Having come prepared to attack the Narendra Modi government over its handling of the economy before a business gathering in the national capital on Thursday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was stumped by a question from boxer Vijender Singh, who asked him about his wedding plans.
Vijender asked Gandhi, who took questions after his valedictory address at the annual session of PHD Chambers of Commerce, when he was getting married, and as the query evoked laughter in the audience, the Congress vice president smiled uneasily and asked the boxer to let go of the topic.
However, Vijender persisted and asked if Gandhi wanted to marry after becoming the prime minister. The 47-year-old Congress leader then said, “I believe in destiny. Jab hogi, hogi. (It will happen when it has to happen).”
In 2013, in an interaction with his partymen, Gandhi had suggested that he did not want to marry and start a family. “If I get married and have children, I will be status-quoist and will like my children to take my place,” he had told them.
He is believed to have had a South American girlfriend while he was working in London before he arrived in India in the early 2000s to join politics. In 2016, there was intense speculation on whether Gandhi had finally decided to get married. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had tweeted, saying the Congress scion was marrying a Brahmin girl from Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, replying to Vijender's query on why politicians were not interested in sports, Rahul said he was not one of them. “I exercise, I run, I swim. I don't talk about it publicly, but sports is very important in my life. I devote one hour every day to sports,” he said.
He agreed to a suggestion from Vijender to put videos of his involvement in sporting activities online.
