‘Flying Kiss’ That Courted Controversy: BJP Women MPs Complain Against Rahul Gandhi

Women MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday lodged a formal complaint with Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla against Rahul Gandhi allegedly blowing a ‘flying kiss’ in the lower house, accusing the Congress MP of “insulting women MPs” and demanding strict action against him.

A letter signed by union minister Shobha Karandlaje and other women MPs read that Gandhi “behaved in an indecent manner” and “inappropriate gestures towards Smriti Irani while she was addressing the House”.

“The member has not only insulted the dignity of women members in the House, but it has also brought disrepute and lowered the dignity of this august House,” the letter read.

Speaking to the news agency ANI, BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje said, “This is the first time we have seen such behaviour from an MP in the House. He made a gesture of a flying kiss at women MPs in the House….It is unacceptable. We have complained to the Speaker to take action against him.”

Another BJP MP and union minister Darshana Jardosh told PTI, “We didn’t like it when he (Rahul Gandhi) gave a flying kiss while he was leaving as it goes against our culture. We won’t tolerate such things in the Parliament.”

Rahul Gandhi addressed for the first time in Parliament on Wednesday as he returned to the House after being reinstated as the Lok Sabha MP. Reminding of his famous hug and wink which took place during the last no-confidence motion against the Modi government in 2018, Gandhi allegedly made a similar gesture as he was exiting the Lok Sabha.

After Rahul Gandhi’s alleged ‘flying kiss’ gesture, Smriti Irani hit out at him during her speech on the no-confidence motion – without really naming Gandhi. “The person who spoke before me misbehaved. Only a misogynistic man can gesture a flying kiss to female parliamentarians. It shows the khandhan he comes from, and what his family and party feel about women. Such undignified conduct was never before seen in the Parliament of the country,” she said.