Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday turned political sparring into humour when he quipped that “talks are on” with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad over the question of his marriage.
Speaking at a press conference in Araria, Bihar, during the Voter Adhikar Yatra, the 55-year-old leader responded to a banter-filled exchange that began with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav suggesting Union Minister Chirag Paswan should marry soon.
“I can pay Chirag Paswan back in the same coin, make fun of his claims of being a Hanuman of, not even a party, but an individual,” Yadav said. He added, “I would not like to join issue with Chirag Paswan whom I consider an elder brother. I would only advise him to get married. It is high time.”
Yadav’s remark, greeted with laughter, drew a quick interjection from Gandhi, who has been repeatedly addressed by the RJD leader as bade bhai (elder brother) throughout the yatra. Taking the microphone, Gandhi said, “The advice is applicable to me as well. Talks are on with his father.”
The exchange was a reference to Lalu Prasad’s jovial remarks two years ago at a press conference in Patna, when the RJD supremo, standing beside Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had urged Gandhi to marry. “We would urge Rahul Gandhi to get married. It has been a fervent wish of his mother (Sonia Gandhi). We want to see him as ‘dulha’ and join the ‘baraat’,” Prasad had said at the time.
Sections of the media interpreted those words then as more than playful banter — a symbolic nod of approval for Gandhi to take centre stage as prime ministerial candidate in the event of a Congress-led coalition coming to power.
Paswan, who leads the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), has repeatedly described his loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in devotional terms, calling himself the “Hanuman” of Modi.
Yadav, the INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial face in Bihar and father of two young children, used the jibe to deflect Paswan’s criticism of Congress as a “pichhlaggu” (sidekick) of the RJD. Gandhi, by turning the subject to his own bachelorhood, ensured the presser ended on a lighter note.
Also read: 'Ab jaldi karni padegi,' Rahul Gandhi's playful reply to question on marriage
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