Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi is known for his bloopers, making him a soft target of jibes, but this time it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was caught on the wrong foot by misquoting him.
In the heat of the Uttar Pradesh election at a rally in Maharajganj, Modi mocked a "certain Congress leader", rhetorically asking that leader's supporters if they had ever heard of anything called coconut juice. After the PM, BJP chief Amit Shah too, mocked Rahul Gandhi, alleging that he had talked about "coconut juice made in Manipur".
On Thursday, Congress released a video clip Gandhi's speech, where he is heard saying, "pineapple juice" and not "coconut juice."
"You grow lemon, oranges, pineapples here. I want a day when someone will drink pineapple juice in London and see Made in Manipur on the pack," said Gandhi at an election rally in Manipur.
Modi did not name Rahul when he said, "There is a Congress leader, and I want to pray for his long life... he recently went to Manipur to address an election rally. There, he told farmers that he would extract juice from coconuts and send it to London. In fact, a coconut has water, not juice, and it is grown in Kerala." He also referred to a speech Gandhi made a few months ago, saying, "It is like setting up a potato factory," and added, "Such a talented and far-sighted leader he is."
While addressing farmers in UP in 2016, Rahul had invited jibes with, "You all are demanding a potato factory in your area, but you should understand I am an opposition leader. I can put pressure on the government, but cannot take the decision. I cannot open a potato factory for farmers".
In Manipur, Shah mocked him saying, "Rahul, pineapple is grown in Manipur, not coconutPerhaps, Mr Ibobi Singh did not write a proper script for you."
Hitting out at Modi for mocking Rahul over his Imphal address, the Congress has called on the former to get his facts checked before taking jibes.
"Modi ji has become an expert in comments and jokes; only if he clearly watches Rahul Gandhi's speech he will know the truth and not make funny comments again. If Modi is really interested in cracking jokes, then I will tell Navjot Singh Sidhu to give him a side role in Kapil Sharma's show," Randeep Singh Surjewala, party spokesperson, said.
When Modi was returning jibes, people didn't suspect him, as Rahul's gaffes have become a legion.
Few years ago, he left industry leaders perplexed by saying that India was a "beehive" and not an "elephant" to China's "dragon". Another time he declared that "politics is in your shirt, in your pants; it's everywhere". At a Congress party convention in 2013, he made the famous assertion that India's Dalit community needed "Jupiter's escape velocity".
However, his biggest gaffe came during his campaign for 2012 Gujarat assembly polls, when he spoke of the source of milk for Amul.
"The women standing here are the source of milk for Amul and Gujarat," he said, leaving his party leaders and workers perplexed.
