Our Bureau The certainty that the NDA would defeat the first no-confidence motion against it in the Lok Sabha on Friday was tempered by the dramatic spectacle of Rahul Gandhi walking across to embrace Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

But that fleeting moment apart, the day witnessed heavy-duty political jousting all-round, including from Modi, who in his late-evening response, waded into Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The trust vote showed up the fault-lines in the ranks of both the Opposition and the ruling coalition. The motion was initiated by former NDA partner Telugu Desam Party (TDP); the BJP’s oldest ally, the Shiv Sena, abstained from voting. From the Opposition ranks, the AIADMK voted with the government while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) boycotted the proceedings.

But the defining image of the day was crafted by Rahul Gandhi, who first delivered a blistering attack directed at Modi during the debate on the motion, and then walked up to the Treasury benches to embrace Modi. Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of “favouring his rich friends”, especially in the Rafale fighter jet deal with the French government, and asserted that Modi had turned from “ chowkidaar to bhaagidaar” (from gatekeeper to colluder).

Modi, in his reply, attacked Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for engineering the no-trust motion to destabilise the country. “It is not wisdom or generosity that makes you come here and stand in front of me. It is just a desire to remove Modi and acquire power,” said Modi.

In a jibe directed at Sonia Gandhi’s assertion that the Opposition “has the numbers”, Modi said the Congress was given to destabilising governments because “one family” cannot bear to see anyone else in power.

The BJP said it would move a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi for his reference to a “shady deal” which, he said, escalated the price of the Rafale jets from ₹520 crore per jet to ₹1,600 per jet. Gandhi said he had been told by the French President that there was no problem in sharing details relating to the deal. But a statement issued by the French government backed up Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s claim that a secrecy pact signed in 2008 inhibited the government from sharing details, including the cost of equipment and weapons.

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