New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi yesterday dozed off in the Lok Sabha during the debate on price rise, with the BJP using the visuals caught on the house TV channel to hit out at the Congress.
The Congress was not serious on the issue of price rise, and Rahul Gandhi “was so bored during the discussion on price rise that he went into sleep”, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters.
“Rahul Gandhi was seen sleeping in parliament during a debate on price rise. That’s what the Congress was doing during their 10-year rule,” Hussain said in a tweet later.
The visuals of Gandhi — a Lok Sabha member from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh — dozing off were aired by many news channels.
The Congress, denied that their leader was sleeping, calling it “factually incorrect”.
The cameras caught Rahul when CPI-M member P Karunakaran was speaking on the issue of price rise. Congress vice-president was sitting behind Karunakaran. Those reporters present in the front row of press gallery, however, had a different take.
They said Rahul’s eyes were not shut. But most of them agreed that right from the beginning, Rahul seemed somewhat lost, perhaps engrossed in deep thinking or meditation.
Rejecting the charges, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: “It is not true. I totally and categorically deny all aspersions.”
He accused the BJP of playing “petty and vindictive” politics.
Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said a “trivial and frivolous issue” was being unnecessarily highlighted.
Agencies
