The Congress website www.rahulgandhi.in is dedicated to its chief Rahul Gandhi. (File)
Highlights
- A new Congress website is dedicated to its chief Rahul Gandhi
- The website has sections on Amethi, key issues and social media
- Hours after its soft launch, the site stopped loading
What in the world did Rahul Gandhi mean by "escape velocity of Jupiter"? Or Aloo Ki Factory? Was Rahul Gandhi detained in Boston with drugs? For answers, refer to a new Congress website dedicated to its president in the run-up to state and national elections. Or very soon anyway.
The site, www.rahulgandhi.in has sections on Amethi - the Congress president's parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh - key issues and social media. A section called "busting myths" seeks to counter every BJP insult aimed at their chief, especially those that have lingered in public memory.
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on. Here, for your entertainment, are some of the craziest tales spun by the opposition's propaganda factory. And the truth," the Congress declares, leading in to its FAQs on top RG "howlers".
The first question tackles the "aloo ki factory" video, a BJP favourite.
"Farmers' concerns and agricultural policy are clearly not as 'viral' as a sentence plucked out of context by an opposition more comfortable with jeering than thinking," says the Congress, posting Rahul Gandhi's full quote.
A section called "busting myths" seeks to counter every BJP insult aimed at their chief.
Next - "Wait, another aloo question. Why did he talk of a machine that would turn potatoes into gold (aloo se sona niklega)?" It is indeed ludicrous to say, the Congress agrees. "Only, Rahul Gandhi didn't make that claim, he was making fun of the prime minister's outrageous promises."
Which brings us to the winner - Escape velocity of Jupiter, a phrase used by Rahul Gandhi at a function in 2013 .
What was that?
The Congress explains - "Rahul Gandhi was speaking about the extra push needed for Dalits to reach the same footing as others, and the fact that it takes them greater effort to shake off the 'downward pull' of their environment. Just like it takes greater energy to escape Jupiter's gravitational field than that of earth." The party provides a link to a Harvard research paper with this parting shot: "It's not that hard to understand, even for the BJP."
Why did "Woke up this morning, last night" go viral? The Congress's answer: Because to err is human, and to mock is the BJP. It was a slip of the tongue.
Hours after its soft launch, the site stopped loading.