Amritsar (Punjab) [India], February 6 : Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring slammed Union MoS for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, calling him a "liability" amid Rahul Gandhi's "traitor" remark made at the BJP leader.
Speaking to reporters, Warring further declared that outside of Congress, Bittu has no political standing. He noted that Rahul Gandhi had previously given him the ticket to contest the election.
"Congress party and Rahul Gandhi always gave ticket to (Ravneet) Bittu, and that is how he won. Outside of Congress, he lost. Bittu is a liability now," said Warring.
These remarks come amid a heated exchange of words between Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, outside Parliament. During the encounter, Gandhi reportedly called Bittu a "traitor."
The jibe was made when Gandhi passed by protesting Congress MPs at the Makar Dwar of the Parliament complex and spotted Bittu. This confrontation follows Bittu's decision in 2024 to leave Congress and join the BJP, a move that has remained a point of contention between the two leaders.
Gandhi said, "Here is a traitor walking right by. Look at the face." The Congress leader offered to shake his hands, saying, "Hello, brother, my traitor friend. Don't worry, you will come back (to Congress)."
The Union MoS refused to shake hands and called Rahul, "Desh ke dushman (enemy of the state)".
The exchange of words began when Ravneet Bittu commented on the protesting MPs, saying, "They are sitting as if they won a war."
Following the incident, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla defended Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Union Minister, saying Gandhi "rightly referred to him as a traitor."
"Rahul Gandhi rightly referred to him as a traitor...You should first ask the Sikhs of Punjab whether he is a Sikh...," he said.
Reacting to the controversy, Aujla said Bittu deserted the party at a critical time when the country was facing what he described as a "dictatorial force."
Speaking to the media here, Aujla said, "What happened today at the Makara Dwar is that a Congress leader, whom the party had given everything, left the party at a time when a dictatorial force was advancing towards the country. And whose lap did he go and sit in? The dictator's, the BJP's."