Congress president Rahul Gandhi stole the limelight on 20 July, when his hug and wink in Parliament overshadowed the ruling party’s effortless victory of the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition.
The hug has now made its way onto posters by the Mumbai Congress, with the accompanying caption: "We will win with love, not hatred."
Even though Gandhi’s gesture got the nation talking, the BJP leaders, including the Prime Minister himself, made light of it. While Rahul targeted PM Modi and the BJP over a range of issues, including the Rafale deal and lynchings, the Prime Minister, in his response, ridiculed the Congress and its president.
PM Modi claimed that Rahul Gandhi was in such a hurry to end the no-confidence motion that he walked across the aisle and said: "Utho, utho,(Get up, get up)".
"One can sit here only with mandate and the blessings of the 125 core people. But he is in such a hurry. He (Rahul) says if he stands in the Parliament for 15 minutes, I will not be able to stand here. But I am standing here and firmly sticking to that because of the work that I have done in past four years,” the Prime Minister had said in Lok Sabha
Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam told The Quint on 22 July that Rahul Gandhi’s move to hug Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha was symbolic of the message of love that Congress wants to spread in an age where mob violence and lynching has become the norm.
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