Day after PM hug, Rahul Gandhi says, ‘will counter PM’s hate with love’

New Delhi, July 20: A day after creating a splash in the Lok Sabha by hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that only way to build a nation was by harnessing love and compassion of people.

He said Friday's debate in Parliament on the no-confidence motion was about the Prime Minister using "hate, fear and anger" in the hearts of some people to build his narrative, and the Congress countering that through love and compassion.

"The point of yesterday's debate in Parliament.. PM uses Hate, Fear and Anger in the hearts of some of our people to build his narrative. We are going to prove that Love and Compassion in the hearts of all Indians, is the only way to build a nation (sic)," he said on Twitter.

Gandhi gave a 45-minute fiery speech during the no-confidence motion debate in the Lok Sabha yesterday, accusing the Prime Minister of unleashing "jumla strike" on people in the form of demonetisation, joblessness, Rafale deal, poor state of economy, mob violence, lynching, and incidents of alleged atrocities on Dalits and women.

After concluding his speech, Gandhi walked across the aisle to where the Prime Minister was sitting and hugged him, capping his blistering attack on Modi.

The Prime Minster shook Gandhi's hands but ignored his call to stand so that he could hug the BJP leader. The Congress chief, however, embraced him as he remained seated.

Modi initially looked nonplussed and did not stand up to hug him, but recovered quickly and called Gandhi back and patted him on the back. He also appeared to say a few words, which were inaudible during his reply to the debate, as the Prime Minister shot back at Gandhi giving a point-to-point rebuttal on the attack on him.

PTI