Congress MP and leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday revealed who is his favourite BJP leader in an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Instagram. The feature allows an Instagram user to respond to questions through their Instagram stories.
Responding to a question about who his favourite politician is from BJP, Rahul quipped that he gets along well with Captain Amarinder Singh. “Captain Amarinder Singh, definitely. I get along with him. He’s cool.” Rahul was seen saying this in a video posted by the handle of Congress on X.
The Congress leader added that he likes Singh because of his expertise in military history.
“And… he is an expert on military history,” he added, ending the video with, “Hello, Uncle Amarinder.”
Singh is a former soldier, a royal, a military historian and former chief minister of Punjab. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2022 after resigning from the Congress, saying he had been humiliated by the party.
After Congress’s Charanjit Singh Channi became the chief minister, he quit the party and formed a new party, which merged with the BJP later in 2022.
Singh said he still felt hurt by the manner in which he was removed as chief minister when he was with the Congress.
“The question of joining Congress does not arise,” he said in an interview with PTI Videos last year.
However, he said he would always help Congress leader Sonia Gandhi if she asked, although “not politically”.
Gandhi’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Instagram
Gandhi on Thursday launched an “Ask Me Anything” session on Instagram, in his fresh outreach to the GenZ. He answered several questions, including one on the student protest in Jharkhand, India’s education system and others.
Posting a link to his Instagram initiative on X, Gandhi said, “Students, Gen-Z — I’m here to listen. Ask me anything on Instagram, and I’ll answer as many questions as I can.”
Responding to a question on what his favourite meme from the Jantar Mantar protest was, Gandhi said, “I think the videos that came out of the PM’s house at midnight. Those were the best. Showing a new panicked Prime Minister.”
On Jharkhand protests, Gandhi said, “The student protests that are happening in the country are against the education system. I have stated it clearly in Kota and Dehradun, and will say it in Allahabad, that our education system has collapsed; it is unaffordable and oppressive.”
“Every government, be it the central government, Congress government or Jharkhand government, should listen to what students are saying and take action to change the education system,” he said.
The protest in Jharkhand, which began on July 25 under the banner of the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations, entered its 14th day on Friday.
In another question, Gandhi was asked about his message to young women fighting for their right to study, to which he said, “India’s women are our strength, our biggest asset and frankly I do not appreciate the way women are treated in society, the way our education system treats our women and the way our corporate system treats our women. Women deserve equal space in every sphere of life. In fact I believe they deserve more than equal space in every sphere of life.”
Asked whether the education system in India is producing enough thinkers, Gandhi said the education system is busy destroying thinkers.
“The USP of our education system now, especially since the RSS has captured it, is how not to make young Indian people think for themselves,” he said.
Gandhi’s batman response
On a lighter note, one participant asked Gandhi if he was Batman. Gandhi replied, “Let’s just say that no one has ever seen me and Batman in the same room together!”
The initiative comes a day after Gandhi met a group of students who had staged protests last month demanding the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET paper leak.
In recent weeks, Instagram has become an increasingly important platform for political outreach, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading a coordinated push to engage Gen Z voters.
