Rahul Gandhi's hug to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a fiery session in the Lok Sabha on Friday evoked strong reactions from members and allies of the BJP who called the act a 'drama' by the Congress President.
Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the Parliament is not an area for "pappi jhappi (Kisses and hugs)" after the Congress President walked over to the Prime Minister and gave him an unlikely hug. Modi, who initially looked nonplussed and did not stand up to hug him, recovered quickly and called Gandhi back and patted him on the back.
When Badal stood up to speak against allegations made against her by Rahul Gandhi in his speech, she said " "Ye sansad hai, ye Munna bhai ka pappi jhappi area nahin hai (This is Parliament, not Munna Bhai's area for kisses and hugs)", referring to his hug to PM Modi.
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Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, Badal said "dramabazi hai, aur kya hai. Jab maine unka drama sara dekha aur adjournment hui, maine unki aur unki mummy ki taraf muskurake dekha aur puchha ki humko toh nashedi bolne vale, punjabio ko nashedi bolne vale, aaj kaunsa karke aaye hai?.. patani kisi ne script likha hoga unka Bollywood me se." (It's all drama, nothing else. After adjournment, I smiled and looked at Rahul gandhi and his mother and asked, "you who call Punjabis addicts, which one did you do today?"
Union minister Smriti Irani slammed the Congress president's speech, calling it "lies", while party MP Kiran Kher said Gandhi should be sent to Bollywood.
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"Rahul Gandhi should be ashamed, he can't target our ministers without any proof. He was doing drama in the house and hugging Modi ji. I think his next step will be Bollywood. We will have to send him there," she said.
As his hour-long speech ended in the Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said the BJP may call him 'Pappu' and other abusive names, but he harbours no hate for them, before walking to the Prime Minister and giving him an unlikely hug.
BJP Parliamentary Affairs minister Anant Kumar called it "childish".
"He has grown old but it is unfortunate that he has not grown up. It is unfortunate that the president of Congress is so ill-informed and immature," he said.
The BJP has moved a privilege motion against Gandhi accusing him for leveling false allegations against the party in the parliament.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi today launched a frontal attack on the NDA government in Lok Sabha over unfulfilled promises and questioned the Rafale deal demanding answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on why he allegedly favoured a particular businessman in the contract.
(Inputs from agencies)
