Rahul Gandhi calls Ravneet Bittu 'traitor friend'; BJP leader responds with 'desh ke dushman' jibe

The Leader of Opposition and Union Minister had a short verbal duel during a protest by suspended MPs in front of the the Parliament House.

New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Ravneet Bittu, a former Congress MP, on Wednesday were engaged in a verbal duel during a protest by suspended MPs in the Parliament House, with the former calling the BJP leader a "traitor friend" and the latter retorting with a "desh ke dushman" (enemy of the nation) jibe.

The incident took place at Parliament's Makar Dwar, the main entrance at the new Parliament building, at about 11:30 am, where Rahul joined the eight suspended Opposition MPs — seven Congress MPs and one CPI(M) MP in solidarity. The Congress released the video of the exchange on social media handles.

It was then Bittu passed by saying, "They (suspended MPs) are sitting here as if they have won a war". Rahul then shot back, "The thing is, here is a traitor walking right by. Take a look at the face. How he looks."

The top Congress leader then extended his hands towards Bittu for a handshake and said, "Hello brother, my traitor friend. Don't worry, you will come back (to the Congress)." Bittu, who is the Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing, declined to shake hands with Rahul, but said "Desh ke dushman".

Bittu, a two-time Lok Sabha member from the Congress before he joined the BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the grandson of the late Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, then walked past the protesting MPs, who were jeered at him chanting "surrender, surrender" at him, while repeating his "desh ke dushman". 

Currently, a Rajya Sabha member from the BJP who lost the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket, Bittu was once considered close to Rahul. A Congress leader sought to describe Rahul's comments as an "emotional outburst" at a close aide who switched sides.

BJP attacks Rahul

However, the BJP attacked Rahul for his "traitor" comments on Bittu, claiming that the entire Sikh community is anguished over his remarks. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri alleged that Rahul targeted Bittu because the latter had quit the Congress.

"This word, traitor, can not be taken lightly. The word is used for someone who has betrayed his country. This is a very sensitive issue for the Sikh community. Ravneet Singh Bittu is not just an MP, he is not just a member of a Sikh family that has served the country, his grandfather, Sardar Beant Singh fell to an assassin's bullet and you call him a traitor. This is unacceptable," he told reporters.

Congress hits back

Congress Media and Publicity Department chairman Pawan Khera hit back at Puri saying, "When a three-time MP from a certain party sells his ideology and his integrity only for a ministerial berth (and maybe to hush some cases), he is nothing but a lowly traitor. That the BJP is trying to spin this as an attack on the Sikh identity only reeks of their desperation to cover-up the humiliation their leader ‘Tamasha Mantri’ has brought upon them and the nation."

Referring to his email exchanges with a convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in which he is seen to be lobbying for the country, Khera said on 'X', "So Hardeep, stop hiding behind your Sikh identity. It is a wonderful and honourable community. And is definitely not happy with how you were hobnobbing with a child sex offender, serial rapist, and human trafficker like Epstein."

Punjab Congress chief and MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, “What can we do when the Leader of the Opposition is not allowed to speak? Who made Bittu an MP? What else can we say about a betrayer?”