Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has become the latest in the, rather short, list of NDA leaders who have complimented Congress chief Rahul Gandhi after his party's victory in three state elections.
However, unlike the Shiv Sena, which praised Gandhi's humility, and BJP's Shatrughan Sinha, who described him as “dashing”, Athawale said Gandhi was no longer a Pappu (greenhorn), but added he should now get married and become a Pappa (father).
Speaking to reporters in Kalyan in Maharashtra's Thane district on Sunday, Athawale said Gandhi was no longer a Pappu after the victories in the states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Athawale, who is leader of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), claimed after the Congress's victories in the three states, Gandhi should “quickly get married” and “begin work” to become a father.
Interestingly, Athawale defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the election defeats, saying, "The defeat in the polls is that of the BJP and not of Narendra Modi.”
After the election results came in, an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana commended Gandhi for showing humility after the election victories. The editorial contrasted Gandhi's response with the approach of Modi, whom the Shiv Sena said did not appreciate the work of his predecessors or even party veteran L.K. Advani.
BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha also tweeted his appreciation for Gandhi, calling him “dashing and charming” and seemingly posed a question to Modi, asking who was the Pappu or “real” Feku after the election results.
Athawale is not the first NDA leader to talk about Gandhi getting married. In July, after Gandhi made headlines by hugging Modi during the debate on the no-confidence motion in Parliament, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said if Gandhi got married, BJP lawmakers would hug him.
Dubey claimed BJP MPs wouldn't hug Gandhi as the provision of Section 377 of the IPC that criminalised gay sex had not been scrapped then and their wives would divorce them.
