Amid heat on Rahul, 2012 video of Sonia Gandhi surfaces; both seen egging MPs to disrupt House

New Delhi, July 3: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stirred a hornet's nest during the Prime Minister’s address in the House, as his persuasion of Congress and other Opposition MPs to disrupt the House was not only called out by Speaker Om Birla, but also the video of his objectionable act landed on social media, evoking strong criticism and reproval from the netizens.

The video, shared by BJP handles, showed the LoP egging on the fellow MPs to troop into the well of the House and engage in hooting and slogan-shouting with a motive to outshout the Prime Minister and disrupt his speech.

Their attempts to disrupt the PM's speech, however, fell flat as PM Modi hauled them over the coals and showed mirrors on multiple issues.

However, Rahul's attempt to disrupt the house proceedings seems not new for the Congress party.

Another video, pertaining to Sonia Gandhi, shows her using the same 'tactics' to drown out the rival faction.

The video, pertaining to 2012, shows Sonia Gandhi directing the party lawmakers to create disruptions in the House by making noises and raising slogans.

The two videos, put together, show Congress 'affinity and culture' for derailing and disrupting the House proceedings for its own interests, argue the observers.

This has also raised multiple questions for the grand old party – whether Congress does not believe in upholding democratic principles? Whether it has an underlying motive to undermine the Constitution? Whether it is a part of Congress strategy to disturb and destabilise the healthy democracy?

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala shared two videos on Wednesday, to show the contrast as to how the two parties -- Congress and BJP -- value the democracy.

In one video, Rahul Gandhi could be seen directing fellow MPs to jump into the well of the House and disrupt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.

Another video shared by the BJP spokesperson showed PM Modi offering a glass of water to the Opposition MPs who tried heckling his speech from the well of House.

Notably, LS Speaker Om Birla also admonished the LoP Rahul Gandhi for prompting Opposition MPs to engage in hooting and slogan-shouting and also gesturing them to move to the well of the House.

"This doesn't behove the post you hold," Om Birla had told Rahul, objecting to his gestures to the Opposition MPs.