Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday waded into controversy soon after his much-touted return to the Lok Sabha following relief from the Supreme Court in a defamation case. Opening for the Opposition on the second day of the debate on the no-confidence motion moved against the Narendra Modi government, Rahul spoke at length about his experiences and learnings during the Bharat Jodo Yatra before he sought to corner the BJP and its brand of politics for the violence and killings in Manipur.
While the language used by Rahul in the course of his speech was contested by the Treasury benches, Rahul hogged the limelight for a completely different reason during his presence in Parliament.
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Levelling a serious allegation against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Smriti Irani, who spoke immediately after him, claimed that the Wayanad MP “gave a flying kiss” to Parliament which seats women members. “The one who got the right to speak (in Lok Sabha) before me, he showed an indecent sign while leaving the House. It is only a ‘misogynistic man’ who can give a flying kiss to the Parliament, which seats female MPs,” Irani said.
A video of the alleged incident soon went viral on social media platforms with several handles claiming that Rahul did blow a flying kiss towards the Treasury benches, while others claimed otherwise.
Here’s a video of Rahul Gandhi’s alleged flying kiss shared by BJP’s Amit Malviya:
While netizens remained divided on the issue, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the gesture by Rahul was not directed at women MPs in particular and accused the BJP of refusing to accept love.
Meanwhile, women MPs from the BJP met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded against the Congress leader for his “inappropriate gesture”. In a complaint submitted to the Speaker, over 20 women MPs alleged that Rahul acted in an “indecent manner” which “insulted the dignity of women members in House” and also “brought disrepute” and “lowered the dignity” of Parliament.
The gesture in question also sparked a war of words between leaders of the ruling party and the Opposition. “His behaviour today towards women parliamentarians was completely against the code and conduct of the Parliament,” says BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawaala.
“When House of the People, where laws are made to protect dignity of women, stands witness to a man’s misogyny, my question is if he (Rahul Gandhi) should be brought to task,” Irani said, speaking to reporters outside Parliament.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Geeta Koda said that Rahul has always respected women and alleged that the BJP does not want to see Rahul in Parliament. “Rahul Gandhi has always respected women, but the BJP doesn’t want to see him in Parliament,” Koda said referring to BJP leaders’ complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker.
“We didn’t like it when he (Rahul Gandhi) gave a flying kiss while he was leaving as it goes against our culture. We won’t tolerate such things in the Parliament,” Union minister Darshana Jardosh said.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that it was unfortunate that the BJP was trying to divert the people’s attention from the content of Rahul’s speech. “I am not aware of the side-tracking strategy of the BJP. It’s unfortunate that they are trying to divert the attention from the content of the (Rahul Gandhi’s) speech,” Chidambaram said.