9 August 2023, Mumbai: The Congress on Wednesday hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party over its allegation of Rahul Gandhi blowing a ‘flying kiss’ in parliament. Indian Youth Congress president BV Srinivas shared a clip on social media of a private news channel in which BJP’s actor-MP Hema Malini was heard saying she could not see the Congress MP’s gesture.
Parliament Monsoon Session: LIVE updates“Did you see him blow that flying kiss which you found it inappropriate, obscene?” the reporter asks the BJP MP from Mathura. She replied, “I don’t know. I could not see that. Some words were not correct”.
Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made his first speech in the Lok Sabha after being reinstated as the MP
However, he did not stay put in the House to listen to the reply as he had a programme scheduled at 3pm in Rajasthan. Reminding of his famous hug and wink which took place during the last no-confidence motion against the PM Modi government in 2018, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made a similar gesture as he was exiting the Lok Sabha. While Union minister Smriti Irani started her statement following Rahul Gandhi’s speech on the no-confidence motion, Rahul Gandhi was believed to have blown a flying kiss on his way out.
“I didn’t see any flying kiss: Hema Malini Ji.
But she has also signed on that fabricated complaint”, Srinivas posted on X, the platform which was formerly known as Twitter.Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said,”Rahul Gandhi asked some very pointed questions to the government about complete inaction and mishandling of Manipur. The government is not addressing those questions. This is the classic tactic (strategy) of the BJP. Every time we raise pointed issues, they always try to divert it by going back to events that happened in history or talking about things that have no connection”. The BJP’s women MPs have complained to the speaker against the Wayanad MP’s alleged ‘flying kiss’ in the Lok Sabha.“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, who was among the complainants.
Smriti Irani’s Reaction
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani said, “The person who spoke before me misbehaved. Only a misogynistic man can gesture a flying kiss to female parliamentarians. It shows the khandhan he comes from, and what his family and party feel about women,” Smriti Irani said.
Such undignified conduct was never before seen in Parliament of the country, Smriti Irani said.BJP verbal attack on after Incident The BJP has escalated the attack on Rahul Gandhi, who made his first speech in Lok Sabha after being reinstated as an MP following the stay on his conviction by the Supreme Court in a 2019 Modi surname defamation case. BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya shared a video clip which shows the Congress MP’s alleged gesture in the lower house.
“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”, Union minister Smriti Irani, who during her speech in Lok Sabha had accused Rahul Gandhi of ‘inappropriate’ gesture, told reporters outside parliament.
By ASC Priya