Who can forget the Lok Sabha session on July 20, 2018, in which Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s “Hugs and Winks” shocked everyone in the house? Literally, So were the people who saw what happened on their TV screens.
The House had assembled for a debate on a no-confidence motion moved against the Narendra Modi government. Congress president Rahul Gandhi was participating in the debate when all of a sudden he walked across the aisle, walked up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hugged him. He then returned to his seat, continued with his speech and later winked cheekily.
A news network India Today recently got in touch with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and asked what she had felt watching Rahul Gandhi’s historic gestures.
Sumitra Mahajan said she was “shocked” to see what happened. “Paanch second ke liye main aawaak ho gayi thi (For five seconds I was shocked),” she said.
Video by India Today-
“I didn’t know what was happening. What do I say to this? How should I control the House? Really, I was unable to understand,” Sumitra Mahajan said.
Recounting the day, Sumitra Mahajan said, fortunately, he [Rahul Gandhi] immediately returned to his seat.
“But when he returned to his seat, started speaking again and winked, I was very angry. I said this is not proper. Actually, the hugging was not proper either. But this was a step too much,” Mahajan said.
But Sumitra Mahajan’s challenges weren’t over with this. Soon she found that every member was referring to the hugging incident.
“I thought this is very bad. Why is this being discussed? This is not a matter worthy of a discussion in the House. We must stop it. And then I asked the members to stop referring to the incident,” Sumitra Mahajan said.
However, Rahul Gandhi’s gestures fired memes on the internet like never before and the trails still can be seen when Rahul Gandhi winks in his every meme video.
