New Delhi: As Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is on a trip to the United States, an old video of him being schooled by a veteran journalist in London is now going viral. Over Gandhi’s remarks on India during one of his speeches in Cambridge University, a veteran journalist recalled how former Indira Gandhi had refused to answer one of the questions at a London press conference regarding India.
The veteran journalist highlighted that Indira Gandhi, who was like an "elder sister" to him, didn't want to speak bad about the country and therefore skipped a question. During an interactive session, organised by the Indian Journalists’ Association (IJA), the journalist said that he hopes that Gandhi would take "lessons" from his grandmother.
The video was recorded in March 2023 during Rahul Gandhi's UK tour. Mentioning his speech at his alma mater Cambridge University during the visit, the veteran recalled, "I knew your grandmother Mrs Indira Gandhi….Mrs Gandhi, your grandmother, was like an elder sister to me. She was a wonderful woman. When she came here after being imprisoned by Morarji Desai, in a press conference in London, a journalist asked her, 'What is your experience in prison in India?' And she said, 'I don't want to talk anything bad about India in this conference."
"Now, you are being constantly attacked in the Indian media for your Cambridge Lecture. I hope that you will at least take some lesson from what Mrs Indira Gandhi said," he added.
In response, Rahul Gandhi asked if the veteran had watched the lecture delivered by him. Upon negative response, Gandhi said, "That's interesting, you haven't seen it but you have an opinion on it."
Rahul Gandhi faced criticism for his Cambridge speech in which he alleged that several politicians, including him, were under surveillance by the Indian government and the democratic setup was under threat.