Indian politics is filled with controversies, and the family of the Indian political leader is never away from controversy.

Among all the sensational stories that have been floating for years, one is the statement that Rahul Gandhi is not the biological son of the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. This claim has led to further discussion on the vacant subject, encouraged conspiracy theorists, and drawn attention from both sides of the political spectrum. However, are there any grounds for this statement, or is it another effort to damage a major political personality?

The Gandhi family, as a rule, has attracted controversy in the country for decades. While Indira Gandhi declared the emergency in 1975 or while Rajiv Gandhi dealt with the Bhopal gas tragedy, their decisions were often rather sharply criticised. This extends to their private lives as well; they proudly flaunt and present their lives on social media platforms. The family has been said to be fake and to live two separate lives, one public and one private. This has culminated in speculation and rumours, such as the identity of Rahul’s parents.

Yet every now and then one hears murmurs about the real background of Rahul Gandhi, although his family history is no secret.

Why, after so many political generations, is this most obvious truth still in question? Is it because of the lack of confidence of the public in the family due to opaqueness or due to political rejection and stereotyping that has been formed for decades? If, as he would have the world believe, Rahul Gandhi is the son of Rajiv Gandhi, then why does the family not provide a conclusive answer? The continual confusion is about the fact that there is a lack of faith from the community—a lack that the family has apparently failed to ease—questions that would probably remain unanswered.

Also, the story about Rahul’s parentage reveals inappropriate relations and sexual affairs within the circles of privileged families. The Gandhi family, like many powerful families around the world, has professional relationships and connections that remain veiled from the public eye. Such secrecy is unhealthy and can lead to the formation of rumour mills as people tend to develop a sort of mistrust.

As citizens, the normal expectation is to develop a critical attitude when evaluating such claims.

Therefore, people have politically stimulated and controversial reasons for stating that Rahul Gandhi is not the legitimate son of Rajiv Gandhi. It may also be appreciated that the Gandhi family is involved in numerous scandals, and their efforts to live a personal life only make matters worse. For India’s political future, you are either capable of grappling with facts and confronting them and your leaders or just their family connections. Let’s move beyond the gossip and focus on what truly matters: the direction of our nation.

It’s a question worth exploring: how do people still doubt the family of Gandhi, which has been politically influential for half a century? The Nehru-Gandhi family has dominated Indian politics for more than fifty years, doubted and debated just the same. Could it be a result of its inability to respond to changing deep structures of the public or its seeming ‘disconnection’ from the lives of the citizens? The repeated questions show that the level of opacity and trust remain somewhat low, or, quite possibly, there must be many things this family has never tackled and which will persist to remain in question.