It seems Rahul Gandhi has been treating the parliament of the country as his personal chamber rather than the legislative body of the country. From the infamous winks to dozing off while the parliament session was on-going, the Congress scion has now decided to further embarrass himself by using his phone during the President’s speech.
During President Ram Nath Kovind’s joint session, wherein he was addressing the MPs on issues of national importance, Rahul Gandhi was seen using his phone. The president spoke on a variety of issues, including the terror strikes, India’s success in designating Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, women participation in the election voting, among others. Least interested in hearing what the President had to say, Gandhi was on his phone for 24 minutes out of the whole hour-long speech. During this time, he was also seen clicking pictures of the parliament.
Rahul Gandhi paid no heed to the President’s address and did not applaud once for any of the issues mentioned in the speech. He did not even laud the President after he mentioned the Uri surgical strike and the Balakot air strikes, when the entire house erupted into applause. Sitting next to him, Sonia Gandhi had even thumped the table but Rahul Gandhi had remained unmoved, even after getting a few pointed stares from his mother. Rahul Gandhi was also immersed in speaking to his mother for 20 minutes during the speech. The conduct of Rahul Gandhi was entirely disrespectful to the president.
This isn’t the first time the Gandhi heir has displayed absurd acts in the parliament. For some bizarre reason, his favourite hobby in the parliament seems to be displaying his winking ability. After the crushing defeat in the elections, on his first day for this term, Rahul Gandhi couldn’t resist his eye action. This didn’t come as a surprise to people as he has been known to wink in the past, once during the serious Rafale discussion and another time after he threw himself on PM Modi, which was another absurd and unprofessional move. The bizarre activities apart, a couple of years ago, during the time his party was attempting to corner the BJP government over Dalit protests in Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi was caught on camera sneaking a nap.
This has been the final nail in the coffin. Rahul Gandhi could not have made his disinterest clearer even if he tried to. Not only is he not respecting the sanctity of the parliament but is also grossly disrespecting the president. His antics are certainly not befitting the president of the main opposition party to the current government. Nevertheless, being the Gandhi heir comes with its own set of perks, the major of it being a secure post of the Congress president. If being an MP bores Rahul Gandhi to such an extent, he should to the citizens a favour and find himself an alternate profession.