'Permission leni chahiye thi' moment at UP meet: Rahul Gandhi, BJP minister engage in heated argument - watch

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh engaged in a heated argument during a meeting in Raebareli. The video of the Thursday-incident has gone viral on social media where Rahul could be seen asking Singh to take permission of the chair before speaking.

"I am chairing this meeting. If you have something to say, ask first, and then I will give you a chance to speak," Rahul said during the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meet.


Reacting to the incident later, Singh criticised Rahul saying that the Raebareli MP "comes across as an owner" of the meet instead of the chair, which, he said was "not acceptable" to him.

"In the DISHA meeting, the MP is the chair of the meeting of the constituency. As per the guidelines rural development department, implementation, supervising of 43 programmes is his responsibility. When Rahul Gandhi comes, he comes across as an owner, which was not acceptable to me. You will see myself supporting Rahul Gandhi when he does service to the people of Raebareli, but when he uses the platform to criticise the government, then I will be standing against him. I was expecting him to speak about DISHA meeting. Hence, I opposed," he said.

"The chief minister should take note of such conduct. What message does it send about cabinet discipline?" he told PTI.

Singh, a legislative council member from Raebareli was formerly a Congress leader. He joined BJP workers in a protest against Gandhi, demanding his apology over alleged abusive remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother during Bihar rally.
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