Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stirred a controversy by refusing to accept a khadi mala (a garland made of khadi thread) offered to him by one of his party members at the Vadodara airport on Tuesday, May 10. The incident reportedly occurred when Rahul Gandhi, who is on a Gujarat tour, landed at the Vadodara airport. The video has since gone viral on the microblogging site Twitter, earning the Gandhi scion a lot of criticism.
વડોદરા એરપોર્ટ પર રાહુલ ગાંધીએ સુતરની આંટી પહેરવાનો ઈનકાર કરતા નવો વિવાદ છંછેડાયો #Gujarat #RahulGandhi #Election2022 pic.twitter.com/jf66O22hjZ
— Zee 24 Kalak (@Zee24Kalak) May 10, 2022
In the video, it can be clearly seen that when Rahul Gandhi approaches his party officials at the Vadodara airport, one of the members steps forward and offers him what appears to be a garland made of white khadi thread. Rahul Gandhi refuses to accept the mala, blocking it with his hand and walking away.
According to local reports, when the Gandhi scion landed at the Vadodara airport today, many Congress leaders were present there to welcome him. While some party members greeted their leader with flower bouquets, Vadodara City Congress Committee President Ritwij Joshi offered him a mala made of white khadi thread. The Gandhi scion, however, did not accept the mala and walked away.
@INCIndia ને આંટી ચઢાવનાર @RahulGandhi ને સૂતરની આંટી જે ગુજરાતની વણાટકલા તરીકે ઉપરાંત ભારતની સ્વતંત્રતા સંગ્રામની પણ આગવી ઓળખ છે જે પહેરવામાં તકલીફ શું પડી??@CRPaatil @AmitShah4BJP @isiddharthpatel @MananDaniBJP @isunnyshah @neelshah31790 pic.twitter.com/Ivs8cZfTTV
— MAUNIL V KHANDURAV (@Maunil_V) May 10, 2022
Rahul Gandhi’s arrogance has miffed some Congress workers in Gujarat have alleged that the top leadership of the party overlooks and dismisses local grassroots activists.
Furthermore, many people saw this as a disrespect to MK Gandhi. They believe Rahul Gandhi has insulted Gandhi by refusing to accept the Khadi mala, that too in his home state.
BJP’s Gujarat Pradesh co-spokesperson and former mayor of Vadodara city Dr Bharat Dangar tweeted in Gujarati, that roughly translates to, “The family that has ruled the country for years by adopting the surname of Mahatma Gandhiji but has a problem in wearing the khadi thread of Pujya Bapu?? That too in Gujarat???”
મહાત્મા ગાંધીજી ની અટક ધારણ કરીને વર્ષો સુધી જે પરીવારે દેશ પર હુકુમત ચલાવી તેમના ફરજંદને પુજ્ય બાપુની પ્રિય ખાદીની આંટી પહેરવામાં પણ તકલીફ છે ?? તે પણ ગુજરાત માં ???@Zee24Kalak @News18Guj @tv9gujarati @abpasmitatv @Divya_Bhaskar @VtvGujarati @SandeshNews1 @sambitswaraj @ANI pic.twitter.com/8WNKQdQWzd
— Dr. Bharat Dangar (@dangarbharat) May 10, 2022
Rahul Gandhi was slammed for refusing to wear Rudraksha mala
This is not the first time Rahul Gandhi has drawn the ire for refusing to accept such an offering. Rahul Gandhi had previously also drawn flak for refusing to accept what was being alleged to be a Rudraksha mala offered to him by the former Haridwar municipal president Satpal Brahmachari.
In a video of the incident that went viral in December last year, Rahul Gandhi was seen showing his hand to Satpal Brahmachari when the latter approached the Congress leader to offer him a garland supposedly made of Rudraksha.
After the video was posted by BJP Uttarakhand, several BJP leaders reshared it, blasting the Congress scion, who has recently been pontificating on Hinduism, for his hypocrisy.
BJP leader Amit Malviya tweeted the video asserting: “He is the same man who hops temples just before elections, claims to be a janeudhari Hindu and of late pontificates on Hinduism.”
