Rahul Gandhi's ‘flying kiss’ row: ‘It was shame on him...not me’ says Union Minister Smriti Irani

livemint.com:

G20 summit called on Rahul Gandhi's flying kiss blowing incident a ‘despicable behaviour.’ Smriti Irani's comments came while speaking at the Aaj Tak G20 Summit on 19 August. In a fierce attack at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, she said, “A person from the Gandhi dynasty may not have an interest in Parliament, but can you imagine that a female Cabinet minister who happens to be there now has to gleefully talk about why did the man do what he did? Why should I? It was shame on him...not me, or any other woman who was there that day severing our country in Parliament," India Today has quoted.

“Cabinet minister was reduced to describe this despicable behaviour. My entire political life now is reduced to talking about a man who did have the decency to conduct himself in Parliament,"she told Aaj Tak.

Further adding, she said that 'where the incident happened is the most dignified place of the Constitution' where laws for women's respect is formulated.' The union minister was also asked about the political rivalry between Gandhi and her, to which he replied, There is a difference here, rivalry can happen between between equals, but he is the owner of his party whereas I am a worker of my party." During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had lost his Amethi seat to Smriti Irani. Recently, media reports citing the newly appointed President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, Ajay Rai stated that Congress leader and MP from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi is set contest from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, according to media reports.