The PM had been visibly caught off guard by Rahul Gandhi's gesture. (File)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, delivering his final speech in parliament before the national election on Wednesday, did not miss taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi's act of hugging him in July last year, followed by The Wink.
"I came here for the first time and learnt many things. For the first time, I realized the difference between gale lagna and gale padna (an embrace and someone throwing themselves at you)," said PM Modi on the moment the Congress president suddenly walked across to him and wrapped him in a hug.
The PM, still seated, had been visibly caught off guard by the gesture. As he returned to his seat, Rahul Gandhi winked at fellow Congress parliamentarian Jyotiraditya Scindia, sitting next to him. The ruling BJP interpreted the wink as proof that the Congress president's act was a political stunt, no heartfelt gesture.
"I saw for the first time that there are aankhon ki gustakhiyan (mischief of the eyes) in the house," PM Modi said today, to loud laughter from members of the ruling BJP.
On Tuesday, popularly marked as "Hug Day" in the week-long lead-in to Valentine's Day, the Congress posted a video of the hug with a message. "Today our message to the #BJP is simple: Hug, don't hate," the Congress posted on its Instagram feed.
PM Modi also took a dig at another comment by Rahul Gandhi, that an "earthquake will erupt" if he spoke about demonetization in parliament.
"We heard about a bhukamp (earthquake) but there was no earthquake in the past five years," the Prime Minister grinned, without specifying. "Planes were flown in the house but so great is our democracy that no plane could touch that level," he added.