Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was in the US on a two-week-long tour, where he met several individuals and was also a part of a round-table with eminent Indian and south Asian experts hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP), a Democratic-leaning think tank.
In his last leg of his US tour, Rahul Gandhi was in New York on Friday, when he said that freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were all NRIs.
“Mahatma Gandhi was a Non-Resident Indian. Jawaharlal Nehru came back from England, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel – these were all Non-Resident Indians. Every single one of them went to the outside world, saw the outside world, returned to India and used some of the ideas they got to transform India,” he said.
A huge uproar took place back here in India where many particularly the right wing trolls lashed out at the Congress VP for calling freedom fighters NRIs. Certain news channels, the usual suspects, also devoted entire prime time shows to mock the statement of Rahul Gandhi.
However, as it emerged, Prime Minister Modi too, in his speech in 2014, had echoed the same words at his gathering at Madison square in New York.
Now see and hear modi calling Mahatma Gandhi a NRI
Sanghi mindset vermins
Now go and shower your insults n abuses on modi
If you've BALLS pic.twitter.com/NKhO92SOp1— KilaFateh #5YearsSuffering (@KilaFateh) September 22, 2017
Lashing out against this hypocrisy, many social media users have had the last laugh:
Go on Republic, tell us more about the gaffe. LOL! pic.twitter.com/DmfKo3B9zo
— SamSays (@samjawed65) September 22, 2017
I think @republic & @BJP4India have forgotten that Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is to commemorate the return of Mahatma to India https://t.co/2fvTyhIIUa
— Priyank Kharge (@PriyankKharge) September 23, 2017
That RepupLick arnab was with times now in 2014
This video is from his channelNow go figure, you Sanghi licker arnab pic.twitter.com/9FNpXPlHyV
— KilaFateh #5YearsSuffering (@KilaFateh) September 22, 2017
To be fare to #republictv , Modi talked about some other Gandhi, Mohanlal Karamchand Gandhi to be precise.
Maybe this mohanlal chap was NRI— Rocky Balboa (@vagabond_junkie) September 23, 2017
he certainly was an nri. he wasnt a tourist in south Africa was he? gandhiji was living there!!
— manavsaraf (@manavsaraf) September 23, 2017
cant believe these Cowsamis call Modi's own comment a gaffe.
— Aaron?️ (@ROALY) September 23, 2017
Hey @republic are you seriously doing all this just for TRP or you are insulting PM of India. Use brain before covering it.?? pic.twitter.com/ijeT9uvnfr
— Bishnu (@Bishnu467) September 22, 2017