In a serious allegation, the Bharatiya Janata Party and its MPs on Wednesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of blowing a flying kiss towards its MP Smriti Irani soon after his speech during the no-confidence debate in Lok Sabha. An alleged video of the Gandhi scion gesturing with his hands is being shared by the BJP leaders as him giving a flying kiss.
What exactly happened?
Following the conclusion of his speech during the no-confidence motion debate in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, was accused by Smriti Irani of sending a blown kiss as he exited the session.
While addressing the parliament, Smriti Irani paused to object to Gandhi's alleged gesture and said, “I want to object in the house. The MP who was permitted to speak before me today indulged in a derogatory action while leaving the house. Only a misogynistic man can give a flying kiss to a parliament which seats female members of Parliament. Such a limitless action has never been seen in the Parliament of this country. The country has seen that family’s culture via this Parliament.”
In the aftermath of the occurrence, a group of female BJP Lok Sabha members formally registered a complaint with the house's speaker. Union minister Shobha Karandlaje and other parliamentarians penned a letter to speaker Om Birla, urging appropriate measures to be taken in response to Rahul Gandhi's actions.
After chaos ensued over the alleged act inside and outside parliament, several BJP leaders and supporters took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share a 14 second video from the lower house of the Parliament which shows the moments after Gandhi ended his speech and Smriti Irani was about to start her address.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla shared the same video and wrote, "Serial offender Rahul Gandhi’s visual evidence. After winking now FLYING KISS video. Who gives flying kiss inside Parliament that seats women MPs on a day of such a serious discussion. Disgusting."
However, many pointed out that the particular video shows Gandhi doing hand gesture towards the chair and Smriti Irani or any other women MP are not seen "within the range of his gesture, be it to his right or directly in front of him."
The Congress, on the other hand, denied the accusations of the BJP and said there were male MPs sitting in front of him when Gandhi made the gesture.
Netta D'Souza, sharing the same video, highlighted that the Congress leader was not even looking at her.
"The Biggest Jhooth Propaganda Party, which diverts the attention of the country from the issues and facts day and night, has once again started its work, but the country itself will watch this video and decide," D'Souza wrote in Hindi.
"It is clear from the video that there are male MPs in front of Rahul ji. Smriti Irani is not even in front, but Rahul-phobia is such that Rahul ji is visible everywhere," She went on to add.
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