Coca-Cola owner used to sell Shikanji, McD was a dhaba: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi began trending on Twitter right after delivering his speech. He was trolled on the social media platform for saying that the founder of Coca-Cola began as a shikanji vendor. Rahul was trying to prove how in other countries, any hardworking man expands his business in the future, which is unlikely in India.

"Who started Coca-Cola? I will tell you who he was; he used to sell shikanji in America. His experience and talent was honoured and he started the company. McDonalds was started by a man who ran a dhaba," said Rahul.

"Do you know who started automobile companies like Ford and Honda? They were all mechanics. Show me a dhabawala here who could build an empire like Coca-Cola, or an automobile company started by a mechanic. It is not that our people lack mettle or potential. It is the lack of political will and assistance from banks that didn't help the dhobis, dabbawalas, and other backward classes prosper in the country," the AICC chief told a gathering in Delhi.

Soon after the speech ended, Twitter users started making fun of the shikanji comment and the #AccordingToRahulGandhi began trending.

Twitter user (@Vardharaj_Konar) noted that the Wikipedia page of Coca-Cola's founder John Pemberton was tempered with. In the first paragraph of the page, someone had added the word shikanji so that it read: "He used to sell lemonade (Shikhanji) in his earlier days along with the Gandhi family." Another user, (@kendentshering), noted that there were "two dozen vandalism attempts" on the Wiki page on Monday.