Rahul Gandhi's Pineapple Stop - And Questions - During Yatra In Meghalaya

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today posed a series of pineapple questions to the BJP-led central government and the Meghalaya government the BJP is part of. Addressing a gathering in Meghalaya as a part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, he said he had never tasted a pineapple more delicious than the one he tasted in Meghalaya.

"Today, when we were driving here, we stopped and tasted some of your pineapples. There was a daughter and a mother who were selling pineapples on the side of a road. In my entire life, I have never had such a delicious pineapple. In fact, immediately after I had it, I called up my mother and said I am bringing some of the world's best pineapples to you," he said.

Mr Gandhi then moved on to pose a few questions. "Why isn't the best-tasting pineapple available to the entire world? Why is the best-tasting pineapple in the world not being sold in London, New York or Tokyo? And why are the farmers, that mother and daughter, not benefiting from the sale of pineapples?"

"This is because the infrastructure has not been developed to send these pineapples to the rest of the world. The entire population of Meghalaya will become wealthy on what you are producing," he said.

The Congress leader said he had also received oranges grown in the state, but was yet to taste them. "But I am convinced they will be among the best oranges in the world. I think it is important that we develop a vision for Meghalaya to achieve some of this," he said.

Mr Gandhi is travelling through the Northeast as part of his yatra from the east to the west to rally support ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. On the Meghalaya leg of his yatra, his interaction with students at a private university was cancelled after local authorities denied permission.

Addressing the students from atop his yatra bus near the Assam-Meghalaya border, he alleged that he was stopped from speaking at the university on the instructions of the Union Home minister.

"I wanted to come to your university and address you, listen to you. But what happened is that the Home minister of India called up the Chief Minister of Assam and the CMO called up the leadership of the university and said that Rahul Gandhi must not be allowed to speak to the students," Mr Gandhi said.

"It is not important if Rahul Gandhi comes or not. What is important is that you are allowed to listen to anybody you want. You must be allowed to live the life as you want and not as somebody else wants," he said. "They want to turn you into slaves, but I know that nobody, no power in the universe can do it," he said, according to a PTI report.