Rahul Gandhi claims 'I am a Tamil' when asked why he raised Tamil Nadu in Lok Sabha speech

In a surprising response, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed to be a 'Tamil', when asked why he invoked Tamil Nadu repeatedly in his Lok Sabha address. In a video, shared by a Congress member, a journalist is heard asking the question to the ex-Congress chief as he exits parliament, to which he replies 'because I am a Tamil, no'. Sparks flew in Parliament as Rahul Gandhi verbally attacked the Modi govt in his ' Motion of Thanks to the President's address'.

Rahul Gandhi: 'I am a Tamil'

Earlier in the day, Gandhi lashed out at the Modi govt for 'destroying India's institutions'. Highlighting that India is a 'Union of States', he claimed that the Judiciary, the Election Commission, Pegasus were 'instruments of destroying the voice of the union of states'. He added that India now was split into 'Two Indias' - the rich and the poor.

"There are two Indias, one India is for the extremely rich people - for those who have immense wealth, immense power. And then another India for the poor. The gap between these two Indias is widening." He lamented that 3 crore jobs were lost in the last year and that 23 crore people were pushed back into poverty under the Modi regime.

Accusing the Indian institutions of destroying India, he added, "The Judiciary, the Election Commission, Pegasus, these are all instruments of destroying the voice of the union of states. When you apply Pegasus on Indian politicians. When the Prime Minister personally goes to Israel and authorises the use of Pegasus in India. He is attacking the people of Tamil Nadu, people of Assam, people of Kerala and Bengal".

Gandhi also targeted Centre's foreign policy, claiming that the Modi govt had made China and Pakistan join hands. The ex-Congress chief blamed the ruling BJP government for not being able to meet the 'single biggest' strategic goal of India's foreign policy of keeping the two countries separate. He also lamented that 'India is completely isolated and surrounded'.

Rahul Gandhi's southern sojourn

While campaigning in Wayanad in February, Gandhi had created controversy by showing partiality towards voters in Kerala rather than his old constituency - Amethi. He claimed that he preferred the 'intelligent' politics in South, rather than the caste-dominated one in UP. His comments were met with sever ire from BJP.

Rahul Gandhi said, "My experience now since I have been an MP, I have also got to understand the wisdom of people of Kerala. For the first 15 years, I was an MP in the north. I had got used to a different type of politics. For me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing because suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in the issues. If I might say so, the intelligence with which you do your politics."