Sweet Gesture: Priya Varrier on Rahul Gandhi wink

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has drawn comparisons with Malayali actor Priya Prakash Varrier for his wink after his explosive speech on Friday, with the latter terming it a "sweet gesture".

Speaking to ANI, Varrier said, "I came back from college to see the news that Rahul Gandhi has winked at our Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the parliament. He has greeted with the wink which is a very sweet gesture."

Rahul Gandhi was the center of attention today for the scathing attack he launched on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government during his speech, and his hug for the Prime Minister after.

During his nearly 15 minutes stormy speech, that was interrupted several times by BJP members, Gandhi focused his attack on issues where he felt the NDA government had failed since 2014, including the Goods and Services Tax, the demonetisation move, the Rafale deal, among others.

Following his speech, he walked over to Prime Minister Modi and embraced him. Upon returning to his seat, he was seen smiling with his party members, which was followed by a wink.

However, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan termed his behaviour as being improper, saying, "PM Narendra Modi was on his seat which commands respect. Winking is against the dignity of Parliament. Rahul ji is not my enemy, he is like my son and it is a duty of a mother to correct. Why will I oppose hugging? But after hugging, that wink wasn't proper.