‘My traitor friend’: Rahul's dig at BJP's Bittu sparks huge row
New Delhi: A verbal spat erupted between Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu in the Parliament house this morning. During a demonstration before the day's proceedings, Gandhi referred to the former Congress leader as a "traitor friend." In his response, Bittu called Gandhi a "desh ke dushman (enemy of the nation)."
Bittu, a three-time MP and Union Minister of State (MoS) for Railways, had switched to the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The brief exchange occurred when the Congress MPs were protesting near the Makar Dwar.
"Here is a traitor walking right by. Look at the face," Gandhi said as Bittu passed by. He then offered to shake hands with Bittu, saying, "Hello, brother. My traitor friend. Don't worry, you will come back (to Congress)." "Desh ke dushman," the minister remarked, refusing to shake hands with Gandhi.
The exchange followed his remark on the protesting MPs, that "they are sitting as if they won a war." Clarifying why he snubbed the handshake offer from Gandhi, Bittu later slammed the Gandhi family over Operation Blue Star, a military offensive carried out in 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple complex, and the anti-Sikh riots. “When he extended his hand, I said, "You are traitors and the enemy of the nation who talk ill of the forces and the country every day.
A sardar will never shake hands with the scion of the Gandhi family, the murderer of Sikhs",” Bittu said. He claimed that Gandhi tried to attack him. "I don't know whether he was on drugs today. He targeted me and attacked," Bittu said, adding that he will consult with his party colleagues if Gandhi's behaviour warrants bringing a privilege motion against him.
