Watch Congress leader PJ Kurien translate Rahul Gandhi’s speech into Malayalam with uneven results
Kurien had to ask a very patient Gandhi to repeat his statements several times.
I just had the laugh of a lifetime. But not at the cost of @RahulGandhi, big take away from this goofup is what a big golden heart RG has. See how he smiles, holds the translator's hand in all empathy.
— Sanjukta Basu (@sanjukta) April 16, 2019
Compare this with Modi's rudeness at a security guard or Shah's arrogance. pic.twitter.com/PLZqirBwHo
It is not unusual for Hindi-speaking politicians to find it hard to connect with voters in non-Hindi speaking states. It also does not help if the interpreters themselves find it hard to convey the speeches in regional languages, as recently demonstrated at a Rahul Gandhi rally in Kerala.
The Congress president was giving a passionate speech during an election rally in Pathanamthitta, Kerala on Tuesday, but senior party leader PJ Kurien, who was acting as interpreter, was finding it very hard to keep up (video above).
According to the Financial Express, Kurien blamed technical issues and an echo for not being able to hear Gandhi clearly. For example, when Gandhi said, “We will deposit money directly into 5 crore bank accounts,” Kurien translated it to, ““We will give money to 25 crore bank accounts of poor people”.
Here is the full speech.
