Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 20 July, ended his no-confidence speech to a round of applause in the Parliament, as he launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi-led central government in the Lok Sabha.
Referring to Gandhi’s ‘hugplomacy’ move, The Quint’s editorial director Sanjay Pugalia said that Gandhi had “stolen a play from Modi’s communication book of theatrics”.
Analysing the Congress President’s speech, Pugalia said that Gandhi had launched a “personal allegation” on the Rafale deal, by quoting the French President as rubbishing any secrecy in the deal.
Gandhi, in his speech, had claimed that the Defence Minister had lied when she told the nation she couldn’t reveal information about the deal because of a ‘secret pact’ with the French government – a pact he said the French President himself told Gandhi didn’t exist.
Puglaia further said that by hinting at Prime Minister Modi’s relationship with certain businessmen across the country, Gandhi had made it clear who he was referring to, without taking names, while also alleging that the government worked in favour of these businessmen.
Lauding the party president’s speech, Pugalia said that Gandhi had “exceeded expectations”, particularly at a time when he would undoubtedly be up for comparison against PM Modi.
Bringing up the “moment of the day” – Gandhi’s hug and wink directed at PM Modi – Pugalia said that these two instances were undoubtedly the news points of the day, while also stating that the wink in particular will be raked up as an issue of ‘Indian values and tradition’.
Finally comparing Modi to Amitabh Bachchan, and Rahul Gandhi to Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pugalia said that Gandhi’s speech had certainly made the prospective voter sit up in his seat, rapt with attention.
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