‘Cow Urine Expert’: War Of Words Between Priyanka Gandhi, Anurag Thakur Over Jab At IIT Madras Director
‘Cow Urine Expert’: War Of Words Between Priyanka Gandhi, Anurag Thakur Over Jab At IIT Madras Director Published By, Last Updated: July 29, 2026, 10:50
‘Cow Urine Expert’: War Of Words Between Priyanka Gandhi, Anurag Thakur Over Jab At IIT Madras Director Published By, Last Updated: July 29, 2026, 10:50 IST Professor Kamakoti had drawn public attention in 2025 after speaking about the alleged medicinal and antibacterial properties of cow urine. Rapid Read The controversy unfolded during the debate on The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. A war of words took place between Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Tuesday during the debate on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill after the former referred to a member of the Centre’s newly constituted education reform panel as a “cow urine expert", triggering strong protests from the treasury benches. While participtaing in the debate, the Wayanad Lok Sabha MP questioned the competency of the new task force formed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to oversee the next-generation reforms in the education sector While speaking about the members of the committee, Gandhi made a veiled reference to IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti as “gaumutra visheshagya" or a “cow urine expert".
She said that previous committees, including the Radhakrishnan Committee, had failed to see their recommendations implemented. “The Radhakrishnan Committee was also formed to reform the system. Till date, not one of its recommendations has been implemented. In this new committee there is an e IB chief, the owner of an IT company and also a ‘gaumutra’ (cow urine) expert. What do such people know about the education sector?" she said. The BJP strongly objected to Priyanka Gandhi’s comments, accusing her of insulting a distinguished scientist and academic. BJP MP Anurag Thakur defended Kamakoti’s credentials, highlighting his contributions to indigenous technology development and his role in leading the team behind India’s first indigenous microprocessor, Shakti. 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 Launching a sharp counterattack, Thakur said Priyanka Gandhi was attempting to mislead the House and alleged that she had insulted one of India’s leading scientists.
In a personal swipe, he remarked that the Congress leader and her brother Rahul Gandhi were “on the same path" before sarcastically suggesting that “maybe they should consume cow urine instead." Professor Kamakoti had drawn public attention in 2025 after speaking about the alleged medicinal and antibacterial properties of cow urine, citing scientific studies that he said supported his claims. He later defended his remarks by referring to peer-reviewed research papers on the subject. Kamakoti received his MS and PhD degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Madras. He joined the faculty of IIT Madras in 2001 and took over as its Director in January 2022. He specialises in the area of Computer Architecture, Information Security and VLSI Design. He heads the Microprocessor Development Program and the Information Security Education and Awareness Program at IIT Madras. He is a member of the Security Advisory Board. He was also the Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. At IIT Madras, he has served as the Chairman, JEE and as Associate Dean, Industrial Consultancy and Research.
The BriefWire