Rahul tears into Modi, caps it with a hug

Congress President Rahul Gandhi sprung a surprise in the Lok Sabha on Friday by walking up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hugging him after a fierce attack on his government.

After closing his 45-minute speech during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the NDA government (which was defeated with 325 members voting against it), Rahul walked past the Well of the Lok Sabha to the prime minister’s seat, signalling him to get up an embrace him.

Modi appeared clueless and was seen gesturing at Rahul apparently wanting to know what he was up to. But before Modi could get any response, he found himself in Rahul's bear hug.

"This is what it means to be a Hindu," Gandhi said after coming back to his seat amid applause from his party members, including his mother Sonia Gandhi and other leaders present who heartily thumped their desks.

Sharply criticised for his reported remarks that "Congress is a Muslim party", Gandhi said, "Prime Minister Modi, BJP and ...have taught me what it means to be a Congress person, the meaning of being a real Indian, and what it means to be a real Hindu. For this, I thank them."

Modi froze in his seat for a moment, but soon recovered and called Rahul back for a handshake. The prime minister was seen patting Rahul on his shoulder and saying a few words to him, smiling all the while.

Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur objected to Rahul's hug saying it was Parliament and not Munna Bhai pappi-jhappi, an apparent reference to the Bollywood blockbuster Munnabhai: MBBS.

Kaur also asked him 'aaj kaunsa kar ke aayen hain' (what have you taken today), an apparent riposte to Rahul's claims about increasing drug abuse in Punjab.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was all smiles as Rahul walked across to Modi but disapproved of the hug, saying members should maintain the decorum of the post of the prime minister.

Then a wink

The Speaker also had a mild rebuke for Rahul for winking at a fellow partyman soon after hugging the prime minister.

"I won't object to anybody being hugged. I'm a mother too. But he is the prime minister... I am just saying the way it was done — and later to come back and wink and start speaking again... this behaviour is not okay,” Sumitra Mahajan said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also disapproved of Rahul's hug. "Chipko movement has started in Parliament. This is not good," he said.

(with agency inputs)