Whether or not Rahul Gandhi was able to answer all or any of the questions posed is another matter but the salient feature of his much talked-about interview on Monday was the number of times the nervous-looking Congress vice-president repeated words like 'RTI', 'empower women' and 'change the system'.
In fact, a Twitter user has dared people to correctly say the exact number of times Rahul said 'RTI'; a word the 43-year-old appeared to use as defense against literally every question posed by Arnab Goswami.
How many times Rahul Gandhi mentioned "RTI" in his intervw yestrday ?? Any guesses?? @timesnow @parulbajaj @ssttuuttii @JoinAAP @aap_103
— SUNNY GARG (@SUNNYGARG0) January 28, 2014
The interview gained much attention not just in the mainstream press but also in social media. In fact, five of the 10 most trending topics in Twitter during much of Tuesday were related to Rahul's interview. Following are the top 20 jokes circulating in the micro-blogging site:
What is ur name? RTI , What did u eat for lunch? RTI , What is the vision of India? RTI , Aloo Gobi main kya tadka lagata hai? RTI — Sandeep Singh (@Sandeepti) January 28, 2014
She: Honey, say those 3 magical words. Rahul Gandhi: Women Empowerment, Youth, RTI.
— Don 2 (@winquish) January 28, 2014
@timesnow WE GAVE LOKPAL WE GAVE RTI, EMPOWER WOMEN, CHANGE THE SYSTEM WE GAVE LOKPAL WE GAVE RTI, EMPOWER WOMEN, CHANGE THE SYSTEM repeat! — sameer desai (@sameerdesaii) January 28, 2014
Arnab: What came first? The chicken or the egg?? RaGa: We want to empower the chicken and give RTI to the egg.
— SonaaL (@sonaal) January 28, 2014
@timesnow it's like comedy nights with arnob goswami. Most hilarious ans by Mr. RTI:- Rahul Torture Indians for his fundamental rights — swami tejomaya (@swamytejomay) January 28, 2014
#RahulSpeaksToArnab Interview excerpt: Arnab: Whats your name? Rahul: Women empowerment, Youth empowerment, RTI
— Souvik Mondal (@souvikmondal) January 28, 2014
RTI, Women empowerment, System repeated again & again, I request Times Now not to repeat d telecast of Pappu's interview #RahulSpeaksToArnab — Ranjan Dhar (@iamranjandhar) January 28, 2014
#RahulSpeaksToArnab and RahulG mentions RTI 33 times, SYSTEM 73 times and @narendramodi 3 times, Afraid or ignoramus
— Nilesh Patel#HDL (@nileshpatelm) January 28, 2014
.@KiranKS : #RahulSpeaksToArnab Rahul parroted "System" 73 times,"Party" 51 times "RTI" 32 times "Women" 18 times, "Change" 15 times LIKE — manish (@journomanish) January 28, 2014
@timesnow Views ? Answers ? Cross Examination ? Five Words. System Change. RTI. Women Empowerment. Party. Lokpal. #RahulSpeaksToArnab Moron.
— Mister India™♔®©#HDL (@MeTalkTruth) January 28, 2014
Pak Attacks India Kejriwal - Hum UN Ke Samne Dharna Denge Rahul - No But We Empowered Women,brought RTI Modi - Dushman Ko Karara Jawab Denge — ☼ चंद्रभूषण जोशी ☼ (@MatruBhakt) January 28, 2014
Arnab: "What if aliens invade India?" Rahul: "I want to say that our govt brought RTI, Lokpal"
— Ambesh Tiwari (@tiwari_ambesh) January 28, 2014
Jor Se Bolo RaGa: Women, Youth, RTI Prem Se Bolo Women, Youth, RTI Saare Bolo Women, Youth, RTI #RahulSpeaksToArnab #ArnabVsRahul — Pratik Prasenjit (@pratikprasenjit) January 28, 2014
A: Let's move on to RTI. R:*smiles* *ye wala to rata maar ke aya tha* #RahulSpeaksToArnab
— Aanchal Bhatia (@DramebazLady) January 28, 2014
When Rahul was asked about RTI he had the same smile on his face as I had during maths exam. Arey ye waala tou aata hai. — Anil Srivastava (@AKSkasia) January 28, 2014
Rahul Gandhi--Mere paas empowerment hai. Mere paas RTI hai. Mere paas youth hai. Ma bhi mere paas hi hai.
— rohit sahni (@rohitsahni28) January 28, 2014
#Arnab: Why did the chicken cross the road? #Rahul: Gujarat government aided chicken in crossing the road.We need to bring RTI into chickens — Wandering Soul (@ParinM) January 28, 2014
Rahul Gandhi was behaving like Gutthi .. women-party party-empowerment empowerment-youth youth-RTI RTI-system system-women...:) :)
— Abhishek moondra (@Abhishek_pain) January 28, 2014
AG:Will u ever marry ? RG - Look we need to empower women..AG:What do u say about jijaji ? RG - Look we got RTI #RahulSpeaksToArnab — Suvarna Barikar (@kuchbii) January 28, 2014
@upsidedakshin RaGa can prove you wrong.. How you know? With the RTI and Women Empowerment. #SIGH
— Lohit (ಲೋಹಿತ್) (@lodyaashi) January 28, 2014