A photo (here, here, here, and here) of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is being widely shared on social media platforms with a claim that, despite being a ‘Brahmin,’ she is eating seafood (non-vegetarian food). According to reports, a temple priest from Pushkar stated in 2018 that during a pooja ceremony presided over by him, Rahul Gandhi revealed that his gotra is ‘Dattatreya’ and that he is a ‘Kashmiri Brahmin.’ In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi eating seafood (fish).
Fact: This viral photo shows Indira Gandhi eating a roasted corn cob, not seafood. The photo was originally taken by D. Sridhar Naidu when the former Prime Minister dined at the Fateh Maidan Club in Hyderabad. Sridhar Naidu is a noted photographer and former Assistant Director of the Information and Public Relations Department in the then combined state of Andhra Pradesh. According to Dr. K.P. Mathur’s book, “The Unseen Indira Gandhi: Through Her Physician’s Eyes”, Indira Gandhi was not strictly vegetarian. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon close examination of the viral photo, it is clear that Indira Gandhi is eating a roasted corn cob, with additional roasted corn cobs visible on the table.
We then conducted a Google reverse image search to find more details about this viral photo. This search led us to a 2017 article (archived) published by ‘The Hindu’ on the passing of veteran photographer Sridhar Naidu, which featured the same photo. The caption of this photo reads, “Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi digging heartily into maize corn – a photograph taken by Sridhar Naidu.” According to the article, the viral photo is one of several photographs taken by Sridhar Naidu, an eminent photographer and former Assistant Director of the Information and Public Relations Department in the Andhra Pradesh government.
Further research led us to a report indicating that D. Sridhar Naidu took this photo of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi eating roasted corn at Fateh Maidan Club in Hyderabad in the late 1960s. Some reports also mention that Indira Gandhi enjoyed local cuisine and often tried it during her travels (here and here). Additionally, Indira Gandhi was not strictly vegetarian. According to Dr. KP Mathur’s book ‘The Unseen Indira Gandhi: Through Her Physician’s Eyes’. She primarily ate vegetarian food, though she occasionally included well-flavoured Kashmiri non-vegetarian dishes, fish, in her meals.
To sum up, this viral photo does not show Indira Gandhi eating seafood, but rather roasted corn. However, Indira Gandhi was not strictly vegetarian.
