The Congress spokesperson readily admits that a majority of Indians may not know the answer. They may not even be aware of what a ‘trillion’ means. “But when you keep chanting trillion, trillion day in and day out and yet you have no idea what it is, then you are actually misleading the people, even hoodwinking them,” he maintains.

Similarly, when BJP leaders cry themselves hoarse and swear by the name of Ram but have no idea whether Tulsidas wrote Ram Charit Manas in Sanskrit or in Avadhi, their ignorance shows they are charlatans, he exclaims. His intention is not to ridicule their ignorance, he adds, but just to show them up for what they are.

Speaking of his combative and aggressive opposition to the BJP, Vallabh does not mince his words. His idea of India is that of a liberal, inclusive India, he says. “ My daughter may not be able to recite from the Ram Charit Manas but I am not going to tell her to go to Pakistan,” he says, adding that he was determined to expose the ignorance of people who swore by Ram and Ramayan but know zilch about either.