Kolkata, Sep 16 (IANS) He indulged in friendly banter, gave quick repartee and took occasional digs at those asking questions — Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi seemed relaxed and thoroughly enjoying his 45-minute media interaction here Thursday.
Gandhi seemed in high spirits after addressing several well-attended conferences of partymen during his three-day visit to West Bengal from Tuesday, as reporters more than once found themselves at the receiving end of his banter.
At the outset, Gandhi caught a reporter off-guard while answering the session’s opening query at a swanky five-star hotel here.
The reporter asked Gandhi what he meant by his repeated reference to the word ‘respect’ as a key pre-condition for any alliance with the Trinamool Congress.
‘Are you not a Bengali? I am surprised you don’t know what respect is. Bengalis are the first people to know what respect is,’ Gandhi countered immediately, and paused, as the reporter seemed to be groping for words.
However, Gandhi soon proceeded with the next part of his answer, much to the relief of the mediaperson.
But a reporter of a leading Hindi daily had clearly not bargained for what lay in store as he popped the oft-repeated question about inflation going up during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s term.
‘I think you are not informed. Your information is wrong. If you see the inflation numbers, you will see it is down and not increasing. Today it has come down to 8.5 percent,’ was Gandhi’s quick retort.
Then came the telling punch.
‘Had you been a politician, you would have faced the music. But you are a journalist, so you will go scot-free,’ Gandhi said, amid peals of laughter in the room.
On another occasion, an overzealous woman reporter got a taste of Gandhi’s sharp wit when she almost cut short a male colleague to put forth a question.
‘Please give respect to the gentleman. Let him finish his question,’ said Gandhi, tongue firmly in cheek.
The mediapersons present interpreted it as Gandhi’s way of getting back at scribes who kept on badgering him with posers about the ‘respect’ factor in the alliance with Trinamool Congress.
A little later, another journalist asked Gandhi about Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee’s comments at a rally that she was not a ‘seasonal cuckoo’, which has been linked to his visit to the state by analysts.
‘Do I look like a bird to you,’ pat came Gandhi’s response. But he soon added: ‘I don’t think Mamataji was referring to me.’
However, there was at least one bouncer of a question which made Gandhi duck.
Asked whether there was any dearth of respect in the recent past between the Congress and the Trinamool, Gandhi skirted the issue, saying ‘I am not going to speak about the near past. I will speak about the future. I believe in looking towards the future.’
As the reporter who put the question told him that it was a witty answer, Gandhi said: ‘It’s smart! Clever move?’
