‘From one mother to…’: Artist gifts Rahul Gandhi portrait of Sonia in US

Sarita Pandey gave Rahul Gandhi a charcoal and watercolour portrait of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, on a 10-day visit to the United States, received a heartwarming gift from an artist based in Washington DC. Sarita Pandey tweeted a picture of the gift, a charcoal and watercolour painting of Rahul’s mother Sonia Gandhi. She added that the Congress leader promised that it will be handed over to Sonia.

The artist took to Twitter and said, "As I handed it to [Rahul], I said, 'From one mother to another,’ and he said he will pass it to [Sonia Gandhi]."

Sharing a picture of her giving the gift to Rahul, Pandey wrote, "Gifted @RahulGandhi a super-quick charcoal + watercolor painting of Sonia Gandhi Ji when he was visiting Washington, DC, last week. As I handed it to him, I said, "From one mother to another," and he said he will pass it to her. I hope he does."

Read: Why this Indian-American startup CEO called Rahul Gandhi a ‘living Buddha’

She had earlier tweeted pictures of her meeting with Rahul and Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda at the office of American newspaper The Washington Post.

Pandey, whose Twitter profile describes herself as a media communications professional and an artist, was lauded by netizens for her portrait of the former Congress president.

"Beautiful painting with beautiful message," wrote one user. "Very nice, charcoal+watercolouring is very difficult job and yet getting all the expressions is the highlight of the art," quipped another.

A third user praised Pandey for the ‘touching gesture’ and wrote, “The beauty of it is that one can recognise it being genuine or phoney almost immediately…". Yet another person appreciated Pandey’s skills as the drawing looked too ‘real’.

Read: Jaishankar slams Rahul Gandhi over his comments during US visit

The disqualified Wayanad MP’s three-city US tour has been marred by controversies over his statements on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, clampdown on freedom of expression, rising attack against minorities in India, row over the inauguration of the new Parliament building and more.

What Rahul said in the US

On his first day, Rahul interacted with the Indian diaspora and discussed issues like data safety, politics, and the state of democracy in India. He even talked about his disqualification as a Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha.

On the issue of Pegasus spyware, the former MP told the audience he is not worried about it. At one point of time he said he knows his phone is being tapped. And jokingly said, "Hello! Mr Modi" on his iPhone.

In another address, he alleged that India was being run by a group of people who were 'absolutely convinced' that they knew everything.