New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party's Supriya Sule, one of the MPs who led away Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday after her heated exchange with Union Minister Smriti Irani, said she had arrived late on the scene and was unaware of what transpired between the two leaders.
"Smriti Irani said Sonia Gandhi threatened her? To be honest, I went much later, I was not there when this whole thing happened," Ms Sule told reporters. "When I went Sonia-ji was not talking to anyone. A lot of MPs were there. Lot of commotion. Emotions were running high," she said.
"Sonia-ji mentioned to me that she went to speak to Rama Devi and she had a chat and then there was too much commotion. So nobody really knows what happened," she added.
There were multiple versions of the dramatic exchange between Mrs Gandhi and Smriti Irani. Many claimed that Mrs Gandhi had rebuffed Ms Irani after walking across the floor of the house to speak to a BJP MP.
The exchange apparently took place after Lok Sabha adjourned.
During the session, Smriti Irani had accused Sonia Gandhi of sanctioning the "Rashtrapatni" remark about President Droupadi Murmu by her party MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
When the House adjourned, Mrs Gandhi had crossed the floor to meet the BJP's Rama Devi and reportedly said, "Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had already apologised. What is my fault?" Sources said Smriti Irani had cut in, saying, "Madam, may I help you? I took your name." To which, Sonia Gandhi retorted: "Don't talk to me".
Supriya Sule said she had walked up to Sonia Gandhi and "requested her this exchange is not going anywhere. She was very gracious. Sonia-ji and I left and I went and dropped her to her car".
"Parliament is sacrosanct and I think none of us should mislead anybody. All of us come here to work. Each one of us who is a member, is responsible for keeping the dignity of this temple of democracy," she added.
The Congress and other opposition parties have accused Smriti Irani and other BJP MPs of heckling Sonia Gandhi.