Rajnath Singh during his speech in Lok Sabha today.
Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi thumped their desks in approval when senior minister Rajnath Singh finished speaking in the Lok Sabha today, assuring Rahul Gandhi that the government would look into why a food processing plant in the Congress vice-president's Lok Sabha constituency Amethi, has been scrapped.
Minutes before, Mr Singh had turned, mid-speech, to ask BJP lawmakers sitting behind him in the Lok Sabha to stop booing Mr Gandhi, whose speech the minister was rebutting.
In his speech, Mr Gandhi had attacked the government, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of reneging on a public commitment he made in Amethi to "politics of change, not revenge." He was agitated that the food park sanctioned by the Congress-led UPA government, has been cancelled by the Modi government.
"There is no question of politics of revenge. I also hail from a farmer's family... as far as my information goes, may be the company has refused," Rajnath Singh said, promising to "personally inform" Mr Gandhi about it.
"We want to develop the country and the ruling party can't do it alone," the minister said.
Both Mr Gandhi and Mr Singh are lawmakers from Uttar Pradesh as is Mr Gandhi's mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who also thumped her desk in approval when her son finished his speech. He turned to her as he finished speaking and she congratulated him.
Yesterday, Mrs Gandhi had sportingly accepted some ribbing from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during a discussion.
"You were smiling yesterday," Mr Jaitley said to Sonia Gandhi about a remark made by a Congress lawmaker Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury that criticized the government for trying to push through the Goods and Services Tax bill without allowing a parliamentary committee to review it. "I am smiling even now," said Mrs Gandhi, and smiled.
"I'm glad you are smiling at least at Mr Ranjan's comment... but the last laugh is always the louder one," Mr Jaitley said.