NEW DELHI: On a day Prime Minister
Narendra Modi took a jibe at
Rahul Gandhi for the ‘unwanted’ hug he gave him in Parliament, the Congress president declared on Twitter that the point of the debate — and probably also the theatrics — was to prove that nation-building happens through “love and compassion”.
“The point of yesterday’s debate in Parliament...PM uses Hate, Fear and Anger in the hearts of some of our people to build his narrative. We are going to prove that Love and Compassion in the hearts of all Indians is the only way to build a nation,” Rahul said on Twitter.
Congress also threw its weight behind its leader, saying that if Modi claimed Rahul Gandhi’s hug was ‘gale padna’ (unwanted embrace), the real question was how he and BJP would describe the PM routinely hugging heads of states during his trips abroad. On the back of comments that Rahul’s conduct was “inappropriate”, party leaders also raked up PM Modi’s unscheduled stop over in
Pakistan in December 2015 to meet former Pakistan PM
Nawaz Sharif and the embrace the two heads of state shared thereafter.
“What shall we call those? In Parliament yesterday, it was an opportunity for the PM to respond to the issues raised by the Congress president. But the PM squandered that chance,” Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot said. The former Rajasthan CM also said BJP panicked over Rahul's rising popularity and was attacking him as a result.
Rahul accused the PM and BJP of unleashing a “jumla strike” on people by way of demonetisation, rising joblessness, the Rafale deal, crises-ridden economy, mob lynching, and rising incidents of atrocities on Dalits and the marginalised. After walking across the well of
Lok Sabha to hug the Prime Minister, Rahul had also highlighted his ‘Hinduness’, ending his speech by saying a ‘real’ Hindu believed in spreading love, not hate.
