Smriti Irani rips into Rahul Gandhi: “Family that turned party into private limited talks about East India Company”

Smriti Irani destroys Rahul Gandhi’s East India comments

In a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, former Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday slammed his controversial remarks about the East India Company, accusing him of insulting the country’s freedom fighters and royals. Irani expressed shock at the Leader of Opposition’s (LoP) article, which referred to India’s history under the British as a period of ‘silence’ and praised the British East India Company’s supposed ‘prowess’ in controlling India.

Addressing a press conference, Smriti Irani took a sharp dig at Gandhi, calling his understanding of India’s freedom struggle and its heroic martyrs utterly misguided. “It is unfortunate that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party continue to show such blatant ignorance or deliberate disregard for the immense sacrifices made by our freedom fighters,” Irani said.

“They either don’t understand or are choosing to ignore the sacrifices of brave patriots like Birsa Munda, Rani Laxmibai, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and Mangal Pandey.”

Irani’s remarks came after Rahul Gandhi’s opinion piece in a national daily, where he claimed that India was “silenced” under British rule, arguing that the East India Company ruled India not just through business but through oppressive control. Gandhi also described India’s royals as “pliant maharajas” who were allegedly co-opted by the East India Company.

Irani strongly rejected Gandhi’s portrayal of India’s royal families, mocking his claims as “ludicrous” and hypocritical. “It’s truly absurd that the family, which turned the Congress party into a private limited company, is now lecturing us about the East India Company,” Irani quipped, further accusing Rahul Gandhi of being detached from the realities of Indian history.

She also took issue with Gandhi’s reference to the supposed ‘supremacy’ of the British, remarking that if India had truly been “silenced” under colonial rule, the British would still be in power today. “Had India really been silenced; the British would still be ruling us. The bravery of our freedom fighters ensured that never happened,” she added, emphasizing that Gandhi’s statement was a gross distortion of history.

In addition to the outrage from Smriti Irani, the article also sparked strong reactions from India’s royal families, with several descendants of erstwhile Indian monarchs expressing their displeasure. Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari, the granddaughter of the last Maharaja of Jaipur, Man Singh II, condemned Gandhi’s remarks, calling them an unjustified attempt to malign India’s royal legacy. “The dream of an integrated India was only possible because of the sacrifices of the former royal families. Rahul Gandhi’s claims are completely unfounded,” she wrote on social media.

Vikramaditya Singh, former Congress leader and grandson of the last ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, also criticized Gandhi for his “superficial understanding of history.” Singh accused Gandhi of ignoring the royal families’ significant contributions to India’s independence and post-independence nation-building. “The irony is that someone from such immense privilege—Mr. Rahul Gandhi—would continue to undermine the monumental contributions of the Maharajas in building the Republic of India,” he stated.

Chaitanya Raj Singh, from the royal family of Jaisalmer, joined the chorus, calling Gandhi’s comments “baseless and unacceptable.” He urged the Congress leader to educate himself about the role India’s royal families played in the unification of the country. “Perhaps Rahul Gandhi has forgotten who actually did the work of uniting India. He should look into the pages of history,” Singh remarked.

In his article, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the East India Company suppressed India by aligning with, bribing, and threatening more compliant Indian rulers. He also accused the company of leveraging these alliances to exert control over the country during the colonial era.

Gandhi’s remarks have raised a storm of criticism from both political opponents and historical experts, who argue that his portrayal of Indian history is distorted and offensive to the memory of those who fought for the nation’s independence.

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