Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Saturday reacted to his face-off with Rahul Gandhi over the latter’s “traitor” remark at Parliament earlier this week. Bittu alleged that the Lok Sabha leader of opposition lost his “temper” and became “so violent” that he had to be held back by other Congress leaders.The former Congress leader said that he was walking to the Parliament when Rahul came towards him “after losing his temper”, PTI reported. And he was offering a handshake, thinking that he is a ‘shahanshah’ (emperor), Bittu said.
“His one arm was held by Congress leader K C Venugopal and the other by Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Randhawa,” PTI cited Bittu saying.“He became so violent, do not know what he had, only God knows,” claimed Bittu.The incident occurred outside Parliament’s Makar Dwar, the main entrance used by MPs to access the new Parliament building, where Rahul was standing with suspended Congress MPs, most of them from Punjab, who were protesting on the steps. “Here is a traitor walking right by. Look at the face,” Rahul said, directed at Bittu. He offered to shake hands, saying, “Hello brother, my traitor friend. Don’t worry, you will come back (to Congress).”Bittu refused to shake hands and retorted, “Desh ke dushman..” The verbal exchange was caught on camera.He further said that he did not quit the Congress mid-term, adding that he completed his third term as a Congress MP before joining the BJPBittu joined BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. He is a Rajya Sabha MP and was inducted as a minister during PM Narendra Modi’s third term in office.
