Rahul Gandhi is 'Dattatreya gotra', says Pushkar priest as BJP questions his clan
Jaipur, Nov 27 (IBNS): A year after he claimed himself a Shiv Bhakt (devotee of Lord Shiva) to counter the BJP, a temple priest in Pushkar in Rajasthan on Tuesday said Congress president Rahul Gandhi was a Kaul Brahmin and that he belonged to the Dattatreya gotra.
The BJP had earlier demanded to know Rahul's "gotra". Party spokesperson Sambit Patra had asked, " If Rahul wears a 'janeu', what type of 'janeu' does he wear, what is his 'gotra'?"
On Tuesday, the Pushkar priest Dinanath Kaul said: "His gotra is 'Dattatreya' and he is a Kashmiri Brahmin. Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have come and offered prayers at the ghat and it is recorded with us."
"(Rahul) Gandhi came and offered prayers at the ghat. He also said his gotra is Dattatreya. Dattatreya are Kauls and Kauls are Kashmiri Brahmin." Kaul said and presented documents showing the names of Rahul Gandhi's ancestors who have worshipped at the Pushkar lake.
Rahul Gandhi is campaigning in the poll-bound Rajasthan.
Ahead of Gujarat polls last year, to counter the BJP when they attacked him on his temple visit rounds, Rahul Gandhi had said he is a Shiv bhakt.
The present Congress chief is the scion of the Gandhi-Nehru family. He was born to late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia Gandhi, who hailed from a Roman Catholic Christian family of Italy.
While late prime minister Indira Gandhi was his grandmother, Rahul Gandhi's grandfather was Feroze Jehangir Ghandy who was born to a Parsi family in Mumbai in 1912.
In the early 1920s, after the death of his father, Feroze and his mother moved to Allahabad to live with his maternal aunt. Indira and Feroze got married in March 1942 according to Hindu rituals. Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru was opposed to their marriage.
Their sons Rajiv (father of Rahul Gandhi) and Sanjay (Gandhi) were born in 1944 and 1946 respectively.
Feroze Gandhi, who had joined politics, died in 1960 and his ’s grave is in Mumfordganj in Allahabad.
While he was cremated after his death, his ashes were interred at the Parsi cemetery in Allahabad.
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