Last Updated:
The BJP legislator pointed out that Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the train in South Africa and not in England.
Rahul Gandhi in a conversation with Congress leader Sandip Dikshit. (X)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again made the headlines after he made a mistake while narrating history linked to his family, Mahatma Gandhi’s South African train incident and India’s struggle for independence from the colonial rule.
In a podcast-style conversation with his party colleague Sandip Dikshit, Rahul Gandhi said that Mahatma Gandhi was “thrown out of a train in the UK”, after which his “great-great-grandfather and his cousins” took revenge for the insult.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Lahar Singh Siroya took a jibe at Lok Sabha LoP while pointed out the error, saying, that “Nobody should learn history from Rahul Ji.”
He said that the incident of Mahatma Gandhi being thrown out of a train in the UK never happened.
“I watched this interview with curiosity because Rahul Gandhi was speaking about his great grandfather Pandit Nehru. However, I was very disappointed when I heard him say (at 2 mins 40 secs) that Mahatma Gandhi Ji was thrown out of the train in England,” Siroya said.
I watched this interview with curiosity because @RahulGandhi was speaking about his great grandfather Pandit #Nehru. However, I was very disappointed when I heard him say (at 2 mins 40 secs) that Mahatma Gandhi Ji was thrown out of the train in England. I recorded the video on my… pic.twitter.com/XDrEGJ1Xqw— Lahar Singh Siroya (@LaharSingh_MP) April 19, 2025
The BJP legislator pointed out that Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the train in South Africa and not in England.
“I recorded the video on my other phone so that they don’t edit it out to cover it up later. I have also captured the auto caption in YouTube, which reflects what Rahul Ji exactly says. Nobody should learn history from Rahul Ji. Even a person like me who is not highly educated knows Gandhi Ji was thrown out of the train in South Africa. Sad that the Nehru Centre people, and all the intelligent Congressmen and Sandeep Dikshit Ji, who is a very nice person, did not spot this error before releasing the video,” the BJP MP added.
Siroya further traded barbs at Rahul Gandhi saying that when Mahatma Gandhi’s incident took place in 1893, Jawaharlal Nehru was a mere-4-year-old kid.
“Rahul Ji also says in the video that his great grandfather and his cousins went to Allahabad railway station to throw out some Britishers from first class compartments to avenge Gandhi Ji’s humiliation. In June 1893, when Gandhi Ji was thrown out of the train in South Africa, Nehru Ji was only 4 years old. Did a 4-year-old go to the railway station in Allahabad to protest?” he added.
His swipe at Rahul Gandhi also grazed Sandeep Dikshit, who was talking with Lok Sabha LoP in the YouTube video.
The Pietermaritzburg Railway Station Incident
The Pietermaritzburg Railway Station incident occurred on June 7, 1893, when Mahatma Gandhi, a young lawyer at the time, was evicted from a first-class train compartment in South Africa. The incident was a result of racial discrimination, as non-whites were not allowed in first-class compartments.
The incident holds great significance as it marked a turning point in Mahatma Gandhi’s life and his fight against racial discrimination. This incident became a catalyst for Gandhi’s activism and played a pivotal role in shaping his approach towards social and political change, ultimately influencing the Indian independence movement.
In 1997, former South African President Nelson Mandela conferred the ‘Freedom of Pietermaritzburg’ posthumously on Mahatma Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi Praises Jawaharlal Nehru
In the 32-minute conversation, Rahul Gandhi opened up about the deeper motivations behind his political journey and spoke about drawing inspiration from his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru.
“In this Podcast-style conversation with Sandeep Dikshit, I speak about what drives me–the pursuit of truth–and how that pursuit is inspired by my great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru. He wasn’t just a politician. He was a seeker, a thinker, someone who walked into danger with a smile and came out stronger. His greatest legacy lies in his relentless pursuit of truth – a principle that shaped everything he stood for. He didn’t teach us politics. He taught us to confront fear and stand for the truth. That need to seek, to question, to stay rooted in curiosity – it runs in my blood,” the Congress MP said.
The free-wheeling conversation was posted on the former Congress chief’s X handle and YouTube channel.
