New Delhi, June 11: Congress President Rahul Gandhi was trolled on Twitter on Monday after he said the maker of Coca-Cola was a "shikanji" (lemonade) seller in the United States and the founder of McDonald's used to run a "dhaba" (roadside restaurant).
After his remarks, a hashtag #AccordingToRahulGandhi started trending on Twitter.
"Who started Coca-Cola company? Do you know? I will tell you who. The maker of Coca-Cola was a 'shikanji' seller. He used to sell 'shikanji' in America. He used to mix sugar in water," said Gandhi while addressing the national convention of the Congress' OBC arm.
"His experience and skill got recognition and respect, he earned money and Coca-Cola company was founded," he added.
Gandhi further said: "You must have heard about McDonald's. The founder of it used to run a 'dhaba'. You show me one 'dhabawala' in India, who founded a company like the one as Coca-Cola. Where is it?"
"Have you heard of Ford, Mercedes and Honda? Who started these companies? The founders of these companies were mechanics. You show me one automobile company in India, which was started by a mechanic," said Gandhi.
Gandhi said: "This is not true that our people don't have understanding or skills. It is not that our 'dhabawalas' don't have strength, understanding and knowledge. It is not that our mechnanics don't have the capabilities as Ford or Mercedes did.
"The truth is the banks are open for companies like Ford, Mercedes and MacDonald's but they are shut for our 'dhabawalas', mechanics and carpenters."
Coca-Cola was founded by American pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886 when he prepared a beverage which later became Cola drink.
McDonald's was set up in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald. It started after they opened a hotdog stand in 1937 in California.
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Perth, Nov 17: KL Rahul allayed concerns surrounding his fitness with an extended net session here on Sunday, indicating his readiness to open in the first Test against Australia as skipper Rohit Sharma will join the team only in Adelaide after spending time with his new-born baby.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team in Rohit's absence.
Rahul had left the field for medical attention on Friday after sustaining a blow on his elbow by pacer Prasidh Krishna while batting in an intra-squad practice match at the WACA ground.
The first of the five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin at the Optus Stadium from November 22, while the second Test at Adelaide starts from December 6.
In all likelihood, the team management will pair Rahul with Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the 32-year-old's recovery has come as a massive relief after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the first Test with a fractured thumb.
Rahul batted without any major discomfort for a considerable time and participated in all the drills during the three-hour net session on this day.
"I had got a bad hit on Day 1 of the game. I am feeling good today, getting ready for the first game. Happy that I could come here early and get used to the conditions," Rahul said in a video shared by BCCI on X.
"Yeah, I got a lot of time to prepare for this series and I am excited and looking forward to it," he added.
In fact, head coach Gautam Gambhir too had indicated a promotion up the order for Rahul during the pre-departure press meet in Mumbai in the event of Rohit missing the opening Test.
Team Physio Kamlesh Jain said Rahul has responded well to the treatment.
"The key for us was to ensure that there is no fracture there. It's 48 hours since the impact and he has responded well to treatments. He should be ready to go," said Jain in the video.
Yogesh Parmar, the support physio, said the treatment was based on "controlling the pain."
"I took him for X-ray and scan and based upon the report I was more confident that he should be fine.
"It was a matter of controlling the pain and giving him some confidence. From a medical point of view, he is absolutely fine," said Parmar.
The Indian team, meanwhile, finished its block of training at the WACA ground and the visitors will now move to the Optus Stadium for match drills from Tuesday, after a scheduled rest day on Monday.
Devdutt, 3 pacers to stay back in Australia
Meanwhile, the Indian team management has decided to keep top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal in Australia as a batting back-up along with three seamers from the India A squad.
Devdutt was part of the India A squad that played two four-day matches against their Australian counterparts recently.
The left-hander, who was recently named in Karnataka's squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, had lukewarm outings during the 'A' tour, making 36, 88, 26, 1.
The three pacers are: Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini, who were all part of the India A squad.
Saini had also played at Sydney and Brisbane Tests during the last tour Down Under, till date his only two matches in the traditional format.
"It is more to do with the familiarity with the Australian conditions as they have played here recently," a source close to the development told PTI.
"Devdutt was highly impressive while facing Jasprit Bumrah at nets, and the management took that also into consideration," the source added.
The 24-year-old had made his Test debut against England earlier this year at Dharamsala and made a 65 while batting at No. 4.