Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi’s ‘hugs and winks’ in the Parliament seems to have become a pacesetter for his coteries. Following the footsteps of his mentor, Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati managed to turn the Odisha assembly session on Tuesday into a comic session after he blew a flying kiss to Speaker SN Patro for being allowed to raise issues faced by his constituency.
The Jeypore MLA, who was the first to ask questions in the House, was seen throwing a kiss at the speaker at the end of his speech which he later said was a sign of gratitude since the speaker gave him the opportunity to speak first amongst the 147 members of the House and he did not intend to hurt anyone.
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“I wanted to thank the Speaker. The flying kiss was a mark of my appreciation for him as he showed concern for the backward areas in my constituencies,” he said.
Read: ‘For five seconds, I was shocked. I was very angry,’ Sumitra Mahajan on Rahul Gandhi’s infamous wink
“I am indebted to the Speaker for giving me the opportunity among the 147 members of the House to raise the first question,” Congress MLA Bahinipati told reporters outside the Odisha Assembly.
The MPs and MLAs in the Parliament and the State Assembly’ are generally expected to observe the law and conduct oneself appropriately, but considering Rahul Gandhi himself has several times in the past shown similar deportment, the MLAs conduct in the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday does not surprise anyone.