New Delhi, February 04: The political atmosphere in the Parliament premises heated up on Wednesday when a verbal spat broke out between the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and former Congress ally and Union Minister of State, Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Both leaders used harsh words against each other. Rahul Gandhi called Bittu a “traitor,” (Gaddar) while Bittu responded by calling him an “enemy of the country.”
The incident occurred outside the Makar Gate of Parliament, where Congress MPs were protesting against the suspension of their MPs. Rahul Gandhi was standing near the Makar Gate to show solidarity with the suspended Congress MPs, most of whom were from Punjab. Union Minister of State, Ravneet Singh Bittu, happened to pass by.
According to eyewitnesses and a video, Rahul Gandhi looked at Bittu and said, “Look, a traitor is passing by. Look at his face.” He then offered Bittu a handshake, saying, “Hello brother, my traitor friend. Don’t worry, you’ll be back (to Congress).”
However, Ravneet Singh Bittu refused the handshake and retorted, “Enemies of the country…” A heated exchange ensued between the two leaders.
Speaking to the media after the incident, Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu leveled serious allegations against Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family.
He said that the Congress and the Gandhi family had set Punjab on fire and that the Golden Temple was attacked.
Bittu said that thousands of Sikhs and Punjabis were targeted. Bittu also said that while he was in the Congress, he was called the grandson of a martyr, but after joining the BJP, such terms were being used against him. He said that Rahul Gandhi considers himself the master of the country and speaks against the army and the nation every day, which is why he refused to shake hands.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, reacting to this entire incident on the social media platform ‘X’, strongly criticized Rahul Gandhi. He wrote that calling Sardar Ravneet Singh Bittu, a Member of Parliament and respected Sikh leader, a ‘traitor’, crosses all limits of decency, decorum, and dignity. He said that calling a respected Sikh leader a traitor without any basis is not only a personal insult but an insult to the entire Sikh community.
Following this altercation in the Parliament complex, political rhetoric has intensified, and a series of accusations and counter-accusations between the two sides continues.