After unleashing colourful invective against Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi rounded off his speech in the Lok Sabha on Friday by walking over to a nonplussed Prime Minister and embracing him.

High drama was on show during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the government, with Rahul Gandhi asserting that “you (Modi and BJP) may hate me; you may call me ‘Pappu’, but I have no anger towards you”. He then strode towards the Treasury benches, in what the Congress called a sign of statesmanship.

The Amethi MP bowed his head in a salute to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who had interrupted his speech with jibes about the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. He then folded his hands and stood before a surprised Modi, asking him to get up. As the PM hesitated, the Congress President bent and enveloped hum in a hug.

Rahul came up with yet another slogan to attack Modi, accusing the “chowkidaar (gatekeeper)” Prime Minister of being a “ bhaagidaar (colluder)” in the Rafale fighter jet deal, which the Congress chief alleged, “favoured the PM’s rich friends”.

The speech created quite a stir in the Lower House with sloganeering from both sides and a short adjournment after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Treasury benches raised strong objections to protest at Rahul’s charge of a “shady deal”. He alleged that the price of a Rafale jet had risen from ₹520 crore during the UPA reign, to ₹1,600 during Modi’s rule.

Rahul said the French President had told him that there was no problem in sharing details related to the deal, while Defence Minister Sitharaman had cited a secrecy pact as reason for not disclosing the nitty-gritty, including cost of equipment and weapons.

“I can see him (Modi) smiling. There is a touch of nervousness. He is looking away; not looking into my eyes,” the Congress President said.

Aiming to create a more humane and real political alternative to what he called was a misleading marketing drive sponsored by big money, Rahul aligned the Congress to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Jayadev Galla’s assertions earlier to “promises betrayed by the PM to the people, and even to Lord Balaji”.

“I heard Mr Galla’s speech very carefully. I sensed a certain anxiety, feeling of pain. You are the victim of 21st century’s biggest political weapon which has many, many more victims. This weapon is called the ‘jumla strike’. The symptoms are excitement, happiness followed by shock and eight-hour-long speeches,” he said.

The debate on the no-confidence motion set the pitch for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, with the Congress clearly aiming to consolidate the State parties around issues of farmers, Dalits, and unemployment, while simultaneously painting Modi as a purveyor of “jumlas”.

The Congress President’s speech also referred to Modi’s election promises of “₹15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account”, and “jobs to 2 crore youth every year when only 4 lakh are actually being generated”.

“But the truth is now coming out. Unemployment is at a seven-year high and he tells us that we should all fry pakodas,” Rahul said.

He said the realisation that the PM makes false promises to the poor and is serving the interests of the rich has dawned in India. He said the PM has succeeded so far because his image was being marketed by his rich friends.

“Everyone now understands the relationship that the PM has with certain businessmen. Everybody understands that millions have been poured into the marketing of India’s Prime Minister,” said the Congress chief.

In the short adjournment that followed his allegations on the Rafale deal, the Congress President claimed a section of the BJP was quite happy with his attack on Modi and BJP President Amit Shah. “When we were outside just now, some of your people came and congratulated me on what I said,” said Rahul, maintaining that Modi and Shah were “different types of politicians” as they cannot afford to lose power. The Congress, on the other hand, was okay being in and out of power.

Courts controversy

Rahul, who returned to his seat after hugging Modi, was seen winking to a fellow Congress MP, after returning to his seat. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan did not take kindly to this, saying it was against the parliamentary decorum.

Mahajan said she was not opposed to the hug but felt decorum must be maintained when it involved the Prime Minister. She also said the wink was not “appropriate”. Rahul’s gesture was described as “childish behaviour” by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anant Kumar while Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia rejected suggestions that it was preplanned, saying it happened at the spurt of the moment.

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