PM and I don't have wife issues: Rahul Gandhi's quip draws laughs in Parliament

While speaking in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was admitting how nearly everyone has had a major female influence in their lives, in the form of relations such as a mother, a sister, or a wife.

In Short

• Rahul Gandhi speaks during Parliament's Special session
• He stresses the impact women have on everyone's lives
• He makes a light-hearted remark about PM Modi and himself

The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday struck a light-hearted note amid the intense debate during the ongoing Special session of Parliament, which has been convened for deliberations and voting on three bills that would ensure an early implementation of women's quota in legislatures in 2029. While speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Congress MP was admitting how nearly everyone has had a major female influence in their lives, in the form of relations such as a mother, a sister, or a wife.

"Women are a central force, a driving force in our national imagination, in our national perspective," he said, as a calming peace prevailed in the House. "Every single one in this House has been influenced, taught... a lot [by] the women in their lives – mothers, sisters," he said, before pausing briefly to add "wives" to finish off the sentence.

With a smirk on his face, the Lok Sabha LoP then pointed out that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi "don't have the wife issue." The House erupted into laughter upon hearing the remark. Gandhi made another such remark just moments later, saying his sister, fellow Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had achieved on Thursday something that he himself had not been able to do in his entire political career.

"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve my sister achieve in five minutes that I have not been able to do, maybe, in 20 years of our political career, which was to make Mr Amit Shah ji smile," Gandhi said. This drew yet another burst of laughter from the members present in the Lok Sabha. On Thursday, Priyanka Vadra spoke for nearly 20 minutes amid the debate on the Women's Reservation Act and the proposed delimitation exercise.

During her speech, she said at one point, while addressing the treasury benches, that "Chanakya would have been shocked by your cunning" had he been alive. Notably, Shah is often referred to as the Chanakya of Indian politics. The remark by Priyanka drew a huge laughter from the union minister and other BJP MPs.

Despite the relatively warmer moments witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Friday, chaos dominated its proceedings as the government and the Opposition clashed throughout the day over the main issues in hand. Gandhi accused the government of using the proposed linkage between the Women's Reservation framework and delimitation to try to alter India's electoral landscape.

He argued that the women's quota bill passed by the Parliament in 2023 was the "real legislation", and alleged that the current move to tie its implementation to delimitation was a deliberate attempt to redraw political boundaries.

- Ends