New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in the mood for some levity Friday as he helped party president Mallikarjun Kharge down the steps after a meeting at the party’s parliamentary office.
Rahul, who was sentenced to two years in prison by a Surat court the day before, told the octogenarian: “If I touch you now, they will say I am wiping my nose on your back.”
“Utter nonsense!” Rahul observed — probably of the many counterblasts he has faced from the ruling party for his actions and speeches – as he held Kharge’s right arm from behind and eased him down the steps.
His mother Sonia Gandhi patted on her son’s shoulder while leaders tittered at Rahul’s comments.
#WATCH | "If I touch you now, they say I'm wiping my nose on your back. Utter nonsense. Have you seen that? That I am helping you over there, they're saying that I'm wiping my nose on you," says Congress MP Rahul Gandhi as he helps party chief Mallikarjun Kharge down the stairs. pic.twitter.com/l6qUSdfS0i
— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2023
The former Congress president was at Parliament briefly on Friday morning, while his conviction in the “Modi surname” case has questioned the validity of his Lok Sabha membership. He attended a meeting of Congress MPs, along with Kharge and his mother.
The Surat case was filed on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi after the Congress leader had allegedly said in 2019: “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
The complainant claimed the controversial remark was made at a rally at Kolar in Karnataka, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He said the comment defamed the entire Modi community.
On Friday evening, the Congress called a meeting of its steering committee, state presidents, legislative party members and frontal organisation chiefs to discuss recent political developments.
The party on Thursday had reacted sharply to Rahul’s conviction, tweeting that the Wayanad MP was strengthening the people’s voice against a “dictatorship”.
His sister Priyanka also tweeted: “My brother has never been afraid, nor will he ever be. He has lived speaking the truth, and will continue to speak the truth. He will continue to raise the voice of the people of the country.”
Parliament has been deadlocked since the day the second leg of the Budget Session commenced on 13 March. The Centre wants Rahul Gandhi to apologise for the “anti-democracy” comments he made during his UK tour, while the Opposition wants a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani Group crisis following the Hindenburg Research report.