Rahul Gandhis hug leaves House shocked

Post a blistering attack on the PM, the Cong president embraces him and winks after taking his seat

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and later appeared to wink in some dramatic moments in the Lok Sabha, capping his blistering attack on the BJP mascot, accusing him of being a bhagidar- collaborator in corruption and not a -chowkidar- and saying people were victims of his -jumla- strikes.

Gandhi-s no-holds barred attack at Modi on a range of issues, including the controversial Rafale jet deal in his hour-long speech during a debate on the no-confidence motion against the government often sparked loud protests from the treasury benches, but it was his walk across the Well of House at the end to hug Modi that left almost everyone, not the least the prime minister, surprised.

Modi shook Gandhi-s hands but ignored his call to stand so that he could hug the BJP leader. The Congress chief, however, embraced him, as he remained seated. Modi initially looked surprised, but recovered quickly and called Gandhi back and patted him on the back.

-There was passion, conviction and anger-
-For the first time, I admired Rahul Gandhi. He played the role of a party leader to the hilt. It was not a gimmick. For once, his passion came out through his actions. There was a direct sync between his body language and feelings. There was passion, conviction and anger. I don-t see anything wrong in him going and hugging Modi. The PM was taken aback and caught on the wrong foot. He didn-t know what hit him, which is why he called Rahul back and behaved paternalistic later on-
Suunil Kini, image consultant

Voices
Saugata Roy, Trinamool Congress MP
-I will tell you about the Modi syndicate. There is Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, and Bade big Modi, whose name I am not taking, are looting the country-

Sanjay Singh, Senior AAP leader
-Parliament is the biggest temple of democracy where policies should be opposed, not individuals. But the BJP people do not like hugs, they believe in abuse-

Prahlad Joshi, BJP MP
-While participating in the discussion, he made serious, baseless and wild allegations against the government and particularly against the PM with regard to Rafale deal-

Nirmala Sitharaman, defence minister
-On the secrecy clause...It is an agreement that was signed during the previous govt on January 25, 2008 by then Defence Minister A K Antony-

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