Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut dismissed the observations of former US president Barak Obama's about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking how much does Obama know about this nation.
According to The New York Times, Obama's memoir A Promised Land described Rahul Gandhi as "a student who’d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject."
Raut said a foreign politician can't give such opinions on Indian political leaders and added that the political discourse that followed in India after the remarks is "distasteful."
Further, he said "we don't say Trump is mad," and asked how much does Obama know about this nation.
"A foreign politician can't give such opinions on Indian political leaders; subsequent domestic political discourse on it is distasteful. We won't say 'Trump is mad'. How much does Obama know about this nation," news agency ANI quoted Raut as saying.
According to The New York Times review of the book, Obama had said Rahul Gandhi had “a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who’d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject.”
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi too found a mention in the book. "We are told of the handsomeness of men like Charlie Crist and Rahm Emanuel, but not the beauty of women, except for one or two instances, as in the case of Sonia Gandhi," Obama had written, according to the review.
The 768-page memoir is expected to hit the stands on November 17.
