Sources said that Gandhi was not sure about the timing of the hug.

(This story originally appeared in on Jul 25, 2018)

NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi ’s controversial hug in Parliament was a wellthought out move and an idea that took shape during Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s Parliament speech in February.

Gandhi had walked across the aisle and given a reluctant PM a hug after a fiery speech last Friday during no-confidence motion.

Sources close to Gandhi indicated that the hug, which had left even his partymen surprised, was a careful gesture. “The idea first came to him (Rahul) while he was listening to PM’s speech in reply to motion of thanks on President’s address in February,” said a party functionary. During the speech, Modi had torn into Congress for its dynastic politics and serving just “one family”.

“He criticised everyone – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi , Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi . It is then that the party president thought that Modi is really angry and just needed a hug,” said a source close to him, adding that the point Gandhi was trying to prove was that adversaries need not hate each other. “We can all exist in the same political ecosystem without the hatred was his message,” the functionary said.

Modi had raked up corruption, especially Bofors scam, to attack the Congress. Sources said that Gandhi was not sure about the timing of the hug. “It was not discussed openly but he always had it in mind,” the source said adding “It would have looked very awkward to have stopped his speech and then gone across the aisle to hug the PM. So he finished the speech and then went across.”

The gesture had stumped his partymen as well. Congress MPs around him thought Gandhi was taking a short break. A Congress MP told ET, “We thought he was taking a break. But then he went across and hugged the PM.” The wink, which landed Gandhi in trouble with the Speaker, was an impromptu gesture.

