In light-hearted banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he would not be very aggressive in his address in the Lok Sabha as former party colleague Jagdambika Pal was in the presiding officer’s chair, with Pal saying that had the Congress leader heeded his advice in the past, he would not be sitting on opposition benches.Participating in a debate on the Union Budget, Gandhi raised certain issues and took some names to which Pal, who was in the chair, objected.”If any subject is not related to the budget, you cannot raise that. You were on the right track. Why are you getting derailed?” Pal asked the leader of opposition.Responding to Pal, Gandhi said, “We have fondness for you, you are an ex-member of our party, so I will not go very aggressive today.” “I know your heart is not there (in the BJP), sir,” Gandhi said to Pal.Continuing with the banter, Pal said, “I am here as a presiding officer. But if you would have heeded my advice, then you would not have been seated there (on the opposition benches). You are sitting there only because you had not taken my advice.” “Here, I am advising you, you should move on the correct track. Still you have time, you can move on the correct track,” Pal said.Gandhi said in the spirit of their conversation, he would not take the names Pal did not want him to mention.Pal, who was elected as a Congress MP in the 15th Lok Sabha in 2009, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014 and re-entered the Lower House from Uttar Pradesh’s Domariyaganj. He was subsequently re-elected on a BJP ticket in 2019 and 2024.
