Modi and Rahul Gandhi's unexpected camaraderie in Parliament
Contrary to the usual boos and thumpings often seen at sessions in the Lok Sabha, an unexpected turn of events occurred during the third day of the 18th session on Wednesday. Videos that have now gone viral show Rahul Gandhi, the newly appointed Leader of the Opposition, shaking hands with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the crowd cheered on. This brief moment of camaraderie occurred after MP Om Birla was elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Watch video of Modi and Gandhi shaking hands
Birla's welcome
Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee Birla was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker through a motion moved by PM Modi, which was adopted via voice votes. Pro-tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab then declared Birla as Speaker of the Lower House. After the election, Gandhi walked toward PM Modi and both shook hands before escorting Birla to the Speaker's chair.
A look back at past parliamentary interactions
This handshake incident between Gandhi and PM Modi was reminiscent of a memorable moment from the Lok Sabha in 2018, when Gandhi famously crossed the aisle to embrace PM Modi after his speech. Following the hug, PM Modi called Gandhi back, shook his hand, and exchanged a few words with him. In his final speech in parliament before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi humorously referred to Gandhi's act of hugging him in July 2018.
PM Modi's humorous take on past encounter
"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 the PM. "I saw for the first time that there are aankhon ki gustakhiyan (mischief of the eyes) in the house," the prime minister said, referring to the wink Gandhi allegedly gave after hugging him.
