Sam Pitroda says Rajiv Gandhi’s palm once bled after shaking hands with 5,000 people, BJP mocks

Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda on Wednesday said once former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s palm started bleeding after he shook hands with 5,000 people — mostly working-class people with rough skin.

The comment came in the context of Rahul Gandhi’s upcoming Bharat Nyay Yatra — the second phase of Bharat Jodo Yatra — scheduled to start on January 14. The comment went viral as BJP leaders picked it up for mocking the ‘antiques of Gandhi family’.

In an interview with a YouTube news channel, Sam Pitroda said Rajiv Gandhi too had this eagerness to meet people on the ground. “I remember once my wife and I went to meet Rajiv Gandhi. We saw his hands were bleeding. As I asked him, he said he shook hands with at least 5,000 people. Wherever I went, I had to shake hands. And all of them were villagers, had very rough skin as they were involved in hard physical work,” Sam Pitroda said. “See our hands are not that tough because we don’t do manual hard work,” the Congress leader said.

“But Rajiv Gandhi was always very happy meeting them as he considered meeting people as his responsibility even after he became the PM. The crowd everywhere was overwhelming for Rajiv Gandhi,” Sam Pitroda said.

Recently, Sam Pitroda was under fire for his comments on the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir as he said it should not be an issue of national importance. The party distanced itself from the comment and said it was Sam Pitroda’s personal opinion.

In the latest development for the Bharat Nyay Yatra, the Manipur government denied permission to start the Bharat Nyay Yatra from Imphal’s Palace grounds. The Congress said it would seek permission to start the march from another location in Imphal, but the yatra will begin from Manipur only.