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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi walked up to Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Ashwini Vaishnaw, when they were telling the media that his allegations are “false” and unsubstantiated
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (extreme left) with Union ministers Pralhad Joshi (centre) and Ashwini Vaishnaw (extreme right) during an interaction with the media at the Parliament complex, in New Delhi on February 11, 2026. (Image: @SupriyaShrinate/X)
The Lok Sabha standoff between the ruling and opposition sides was on full display even outside Parliament, when, in an interesting turn of events, Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Ashwini Vaishnaw abruptly left a press briefing when leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi tried to join them.
Parliamentary proceedings have been nothing less than high-octane political theatre over the past two weeks, following Gandhi’s allegations on national security and the India-US interim trade agreement.
This tension seemed to have spilled outside the House as well on Wednesday, as Gandhi walked up to Joshi and Vaishnaw who were reportedly speaking to the media about how his allegations are “false” and unsubstantiated, and he needed to present “authenticated facts”.
His move appeared more cheeky than serious, as he tried to grab Joshi’s hand as he said: “I’ll also come and say hello. Come, let’s do it together.” This left his aides and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra laughing, while the two ministers abandoned the briefing.
Senior Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared a video of the interaction on X, claiming that the ministers “bolted from there at full speed”.
Watch the video here:
BJP के मंत्री प्रहलाद जोशी और अश्विनी वैष्णव मीडिया के सामने कह रहे थे: “राहुल गांधी आरोप लगाने से पहले authenticate करते”राहुल जी आए और कहा “आइए एक साथ बात करते हैं”ऐसा सरपट दौड़े दोनों वहाँ से! pic.twitter.com/rlRg6QTxSW— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) February 11, 2026
“BJP ministers Prahlad Joshi and Ashwini Vaishnaw were saying in front of the media: ‘Rahul Gandhi should authenticate before making allegations’. Rahul ji arrived and said, ‘Let’s talk together’. The two bolted from there at full speed!” Shrinate wrote in the post on X.
Once the ministers left, Gandhi stayed back to respond to questions about the remarks made by the ministers. He said he has “hard data” to back his claims.
PRIVILEGE MOTION AGAINST RAHUL GANDHI?
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has since announced that the government will bring a notice for a privilege motion against Gandhi for misleading the House with “baseless statements”.
Rijiju condemned Gandhi’s disregard for parliamentary rules, saying he claimed that he did not need permission to speak.
“You have to take permission from the chair…even the prime minister speaks with the permission of the chair,” Rijiju said.
He alleged a serious breach of decorum, claiming that 20 to 25 Congress MPs had entered Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s chamber to hurl abuses at him. He said Birla was “very hurt” by the behaviour of the opposition.
The government criticised the Congress leader for attempting to gain “political mileage” from sensitive security matters, specifically his insistence on quoting from an unpublished memoir by former army chief General MM Naravane regarding the India-China conflict. Rijiju further said discussing private high-level military and executive conversations in public undermines national security.
(With agency inputs)
February 12, 2026, 00:36 IST
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