Barack Obama's characterisation of Rahul Gandhi irks Congress

Rahul Gandhi’s characterisation by former US President Barack Obama as “lacking in aptitude” and “eager to impress” has irked the Congress.

While a section of Congress leaders expressed displeasure over Obama’s remarks, AICC chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala chose to dismiss it as the view of an individual in a book.

“Nervous and unformed. Guess who,” BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said even as Union Minister Kiren Rijiju shared the Hindi translation of Obama’s remarks.

Read: Like a student eager to impress the teacher: Obama describes Rahul Gandhi in his memoir

As BJP leaders took swipes at Rahul, Surjewala recalled that “in the past, a leader has been called a ‘psychopath’ and ‘master divider’ but the Congress had chosen to ignore such comments.

However, Lok Sabha member and AICC Secretary Manickam Tagore said Obama’s remarks against Rahul were “not acceptable to any true Indian” and urged Twitterati to unfollow the former US President on social networking sites.

“I decided to unfollow Barack Obama whom I followed from 2009. Reason his judgment about Indian political leaders and words against them not acceptable by any true Indian. Will you also unfollow him,” Tagore said on Twitter.

Rahul had met Obama at least twice, first in November 2010 when he was on an official visit to India and later in December 2017, when the former US President was here to participate in a conference organised by a media house.

“Mr Obama, no one can know the personality of any person in 5 to 10 minutes. Sometimes it takes years. You are wrong to judge the personality of Rahul Gandhi ji. You will bite the dust just wait for some time,” Congress spokesman Udit Raj said.

“We don't need a Barack Obama to pass a judgment on 'Our Leader' Rahul Gandhi,” Congress leader Archana Dalmia said.

Acharya Pramod Krishnan said Obama had hurt the sentiments of crores of Congress workers “who consider Rahul Gandhi as God.”

In a new book, Obama has written that Rahul Gandhi had “a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who’d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject.”

Obama’s remarks come at a time when the Congress is reeling under the defeat in the Bihar assembly elections, much of which is being blamed on Rahul’s hand-picked leaders for the campaign.

Twitterati had a field day at the Congress’ expense with one use claiming that the grand old party was now busy searching Obama’s “Nagpur connection”, an apparent reference to the RSS.