New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi was trolled on social media after he met Rajamma Vavathil, a retired nurse who was present at the time of his birth, in his constituency Wayanad, where he went for a three-day thanksgiving visit from 7 June.
Gandhi, who had won from Wayanad by a massive victory margin of 4.31 lakh votes, was born at Delhi’s Holy Cross Hospital on 19 June 1970, and Rajamma was on duty at that time.
A viral tweet wrongly claimed that Rajamma is now 62 years old and she would have been 13 years old at the time of Rahul Gandhi’s birth.
“Rajamma is 62, Rahul is 49. So when he was born, the nurse was 13 year old. Yaha bhi saala scam (There is a scam here too)” said the tweet, which has been shared more than 5,900 times and liked over 10,650 times till the filing of this report. The post has also gone viral on Facebook.
The viral tweet is, however, false. Rajamma is 72, not 62, and she was present at the time of Gandhi’s birth, when she was 23 years old and not 13 as claimed in the tweet.
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The reality
India Today carried a report Sunday on Gandhi meeting Rajamma and wrote: “The 72-year-old retired nurse embraced the moment and came face to face with Gandhi after 49 years. Rahul hugged and held her hands when she came to see him with her family.”
A Hindustan Times report also confirms Rajamma’s age to be 72. The HT report said Rajamma hit the news last month when a controversy began over Gandhi’s citizenship.
The HT report claimed, “She came on record saying that nobody can contest his citizenship as she remembered birth details of the baby in hospital register. Later, the Holy Cross Hospital also released the records.”
In collaboration with SM HoaxSlayer.