NEW DELHI: During a Lok Sabha discussion on the high-level task force constituted to reform the national examination system, a remark made by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra regarding a panel member, calling him a “cow urine expert”, has sparked a debate ranging from Parliament to the scientific community. She alleged that the committee included individuals lacking expertise in education or medicine, noting the inclusion of “a former information chief, an IT company owner and even a cow urine expert.”
Although she did not name anyone, her comments were clearly perceived as being directed at IIT Madras Director Prof. V. Kamakoti, a member of the high-level committee chaired by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani.
In fact, Priyanka Gandhi’s remark has revived a controversy from 2025, when Prof. Kamakoti had presented research evidence highlighting the antibacterial and digestive benefits of cow urine. While the opposition viewed the remark as criticism of the government’s expert committee, the government and numerous academicians condemned it as an unwarranted dig at the credentials of a distinguished Indian scientist.
This controversy raises a significant question: should a scientist’s decades of research and technical contributions be evaluated based on their overall body of work, or not?
PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA LABELS PROFESSOR KAMAKOTI A "GAU MUTRA" EXPERT. WE SAY
GIVE US A GAU MUTRA EXPERT OVER A DYNAST ANY DAY!
Here's why:
Professor Kamakoti:
+ Director of IIT Madras since 2022 developed Shakti India's first industry grade microprocessor.
+ Helped the nation's… pic.twitter.com/JIdNBciKI8— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) July 28, 2026
BJP MP Anurag Thakur came down heavily at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s ‘gaumutra expert’ remark. He says, “I will answer Priyanka ji after this. The way she makes an innocent face, misleads people, smiles subtly, and even asks the Speaker to smile, she does this while speaking on serious issues. She tries to cover up the wrongdoings and failures of her own government’s past. But I am saddened by the remarks she made about one of India’s great scientists and professors, IIT Madras Professor V. Kamakoti ji. He is our former chairman of the Advisory Intelligence Task Force. If he is associated with the RSS, there is nothing wrong with that… You should also join the RSS; you will learn some values and start thinking about the country.
VIDEO | Delhi: BJP MP Anurag Thakur reacts to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's 'gaumutra expert' remark. He says, "I will answer Priyanka ji after this. The way she makes an innocent face, misleads people, smiles subtly, and even asks the Speaker to smile, she does this while… pic.twitter.com/IRdvjspMLl
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 28, 2026
Anurag thakur further stated that he thought that Priyanka Gandhi ji would be better than Rahul Gandhi ji in understanding things. He hit back at Priyanka Gandhi and said, “The remarks she made today about the IIT Madras Director, I feel that the brother and sister are alike; they are on the same path, and perhaps they are consuming something that affects the proper functioning of the brain. Maybe they should consume cow urine instead.”
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla denounced Priyanka Gandhi for making such remarks and lamented the Congress leader of “insulting the scientific community”.
He said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s referring to IIT Madras Director Prof. V. Kamakoti as a “gau mutra expert” shows her “feudal, dynastic arrogance.”
