# Rahul Gandhi slams ex-Congress leaders as cowards, Kharge jibes back 2026-10-16T09:51:33+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi met youth wing workers in New Delhi on Thursday (15 October 2026), during the party’s protests over electoral roll revision. Gandhi told the gathering that former Congress leaders who quit the party were ‘cowards and greedy’, and that only ‘lions’ remained. He named Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ghulam Nabi Azad, RPN Singh and Jitin Prasada, saying they left for government positions or out of fear of investigations. During the interaction, Kharge interrupted Gandhi with a light-hearted remark: ‘They were all your friends.’ Gandhi, appearing embarrassed, replied that Scindia was not his friend and recounted an anecdote about his grandmother Indira Gandhi to explain political relationships. The meeting, attended by around 60 workers from the Indian Youth Congress, NSUI and Seva Dal, also discussed creative protest methods. A protest at Jantar Mantar was suggested, though the government has removed that venue from permitted protest sites. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Times Now reports Gandhi’s ‘cowards and greedy’ remark as a straightforward party message to youth, leading with Kharge’s supportive X post and no mention of internal friction. ABP Live, by contrast, foregrounds Kharge’s teasing interruption, ‘They were all your friends’, making the personal awkwardness the story’s peg. Times Now omits the Kharge-Gandhi exchange entirely, while ABP Live gives it the lead and follows it with Gandhi’s Indira Gandhi anecdote. The gap is in framing: Times Now treats the meeting as a routine party rally, ABP Live as a revealing internal moment. A balanced reading accepts both: the event was a private tea meeting where a light-hearted exchange occurred, but party discipline kept the public message unified. ABP Live’s sources say Kharge’s remark drew a reply, but no further tension is reported beyond that line. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Leads with Kharge’s supportive X post, omits Kharge’s remark to Gandhi - abplive.com (neutral report) Leads with Kharge’s interruption as the main event This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Ghulam Nabi Azad, Indian Youth Congress, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mallikarjun Kharge, NSUI, Rahul Gandhi Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rahul-gandhi-slams-ex-congress-leaders-as-cowards-kharge-jibes-back/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rahul-gandhi-slams-ex-congress-leaders-as-cowards-kharge-jibes-back/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/