Kochi, Kerala – A political gathering featuring Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Kochi descended into controversy when a migrant worker’s question about regional development was abruptly cut short by party functionaries. The incident, captured on video, has sparked widespread criticism on social media regarding the treatment of dissent.
The event saw the migrant worker from Bengal directly address Rahul Gandhi, questioning why his home state had lagged in development compared to Kerala. This direct challenge came during a session where K.C. Venugopal, a prominent Congress leader, had invited audience participation and questions for Gandhi.
As the worker began to articulate his query in Hindi, “Hello Rahul Sir, why has my state of Bengal fallen behind when Kerala has developed so much?”, Congress leaders on stage quickly intervened. Shafi Parambil, an MP, was heard instructing that only questions related to employment guarantee schemes were permissible. Subsequently, other Congress leaders physically snatched the microphone from the worker.
Despite the worker’s protestations that he understood Hindi and could comprehend Rahul Gandhi’s responses, his voice was silenced. The video footage of the incident quickly went viral across social media platforms, drawing significant backlash against the Congress leaders for their perceived heavy-handedness and suppression of a legitimate public query.