New Delhi: The Congress party on Monday, September 8, shared a heart-warming video on social media featuring Rahul Gandhi gifting a stray dog puppy to Mallikarjun Kharge’s granddaughter on her birthday. The gesture, filmed at the Kharge residence, showed Gandhi arriving with a large gift box that revealed a smaller crate containing the puppy.
In the video, Gandhi is seen carefully unwrapping the gift and gently introducing the puppy to Kharge’s family. The Congress party, sharing the clip on Instagram, wrote, “Great love comes in small packages (heart emoji) A birthday gift to remember for Kharge Ji's granddaughter.”
The puppy is later shown playing with children and family members, with Gandhi at one point holding the furry companion in his arms.
Have a look at the video here:
The video, intended to showcase a personal moment, triggered mixed reactions online. Many social media users applauded Gandhi’s move to adopt and gift a stray dog, with some hailing the act as thoughtful and symbolic of compassion. One user commented that Gandhi should be considered the "next PM" for such gestures.
However, the video also sparked criticism, particularly over animal safety concerns. Some users pointed out the absence of visible ventilation in the gift box, questioning the decision to wrap a live animal without breathable space.
The timing of the video drew further attention due to the recent legal discourse around stray dogs. The Supreme Court recently revised an earlier order calling for blanket removal of stray dogs from the Delhi-NCR region due to rising bite cases.
Meanwhile, Congress leadership is going through a politically sensitive time. Recently, Kharge faced criticism after a viral video of him showed him dismissing a farmer's complaint regarding crop loss. He also accused the Election Commission of shielding those allegedly involved in voter roll irregularities in Karnataka.
Meanwhile, Gandhi has been under fire from the BJP following reports of his vacation in Malaysia during a period of farmer distress in flood-hit regions. This development followed his recent "Voter Adhikar Yatra" in Bihar, held on September 1 alongside Kharge and INDIA bloc leaders, where they raised concerns about voter list manipulation ahead of the state assembly polls.
