A video of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi exiting from a women's toilet following a public meeting in Gujarat in Chhota Udaipur has gone viral.
Netizens including several BJP functionaries wrote tongue-in-cheek tweets wondering if Gandhi was searching for women in shorts in a women's washroom - a clear attack on Gandhi's recent comment where he accused the RSS of being anti-women as they are not allowed to wear shorts.
After wanting to see women in shorts, Rahul Gandhi enters female toilet! https://t.co/r3lzAAxrid pic.twitter.com/rC2QLO3lax
— Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) October 11, 2017
After expressing desire to watch women in shorts, now @OfficeOfRG of @INCIndia bulldozes in Ladies Toilet.https://t.co/K5cIfGFb4Z pic.twitter.com/wKorujXeIl
— Suresh Nakhua (@sureshnakhua) October 11, 2017
India Today reported that Gandhi had accidentally entered the women's toilet as he could not read Gujarati. A poster in Gujarati that read 'Mahilao Mate Shauchalaya' could be seen in the videos and image. Locals at the venue said that immediately after Gandhi came out of the toilet, people burst out in laughter, India Today reported.
But Gujarati news channel ABP Asmita gave another version of the incident. In a report, the ABP anchor says that the Special Protection Group traveling with Gandhi directed him to the women's toilet after ensuring no one was using it.
A video has gone viral from the last day of the visit of Congress to mid-Gujarat. In the video, Rahul Gandhi is seen coming out of the ladies washroom. ABP investigated the video and found out that the video is from the Darbar hall of Chhota Udaipur. The onlookers say that there was no discomfort because of the situation. Infact, the reality was that the gents toilet and the ladies toilet were in front of each other but as there were a lot of cameramen standing in front of the gents toilet, it was blocked. The SPG asked Rahul Gandhi to go to the ladies toilet. It doesn't seem that Rahul Gandhi made a big mistake, but the video has gone viral and has become the talk of the town. - ABP Asmita
BOOM has not been able to independently verify ABP's version of the incident.
However, a Congress spokesperson clarified that due to security reasons, the men's toilet was kept locked. The entry to the men's toilet were also blocked due to the presence of the camera persons covering Gandhi. The SPG asked Gandhi to use the only toilet available at the location and it was ensured no one was present inside before giving him clearance.