Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday cited the examples of successful international business ventures like Coca Cola, Ford, Mc Donalds, Mercedes and Honda to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ground that his Government ignored skills and talent and did not provide the right opportunities to backward classes with entrepreneurial drive.
He used the analogies by describing the founder of Coca-Cola as a ‘shinkanji seller’ and that of McDonald’s a ‘dhaba wala’. While addressing a convention of OBC workers of the Congress, party, he also said the founders of Ford, Mercedes and Honda were ‘mechanics’ whose skills were recognised by the meritocratic system in their countries and allowed them to prosper.
However his remarks failed to achieve the desired results, at least on social media, with the hashtag “#AccordingToRahulGandhi” becoming an immediate hit and one of the top India Twitter trends, as thousands mocked him in various creative ways, using pictures, cartoons and graphics.
“Everyone must have heard about the Coca-Cola company. Who started this company. Who was he, does anyone knowIJ I will tell you who he was. The person who started the Coca-Cola company was one who sold ‘shikanji’. He used to sell ‘shikanji’ in America. He used to mix sugar in water. His experience and talent was honoured and he got money and started the Coca-Cola company. You must have heard about McDonald’s company, which is seen everywhere. Who started it and what did he doIJ He used to run a ‘dhaba’ (roadside restaurant). You show me that ‘dhaba-walla’ in India who has created a company like Coca-Cola. Where is itIJ”, Rahul said addressing his party workers at a convention.
“It was a mechanic. Ford and Honda were mechanics. You show me an automobile company in India that was started by a mechanic.
Where is itIJ It is not that our people, our ‘dhaba-wallahs’ do not have sense and strength. It is not that India’s mechanics did not have the potential as that of Ford or Mercedes.
It is that if the doors of bank are open for Ford, Mercedes, then the doors of banks and politics are shut for our ‘dhabawalas’, mechanics and ‘dhobis’ and other backwards,” he said.