Rahul Gandhi calls MoS Ravneet Bittu ‘traitor’; BJP hits out, Congress defends him

Extending his arm to Bittu for a handshake, Rahul said, “Hello, brother…My traitor friend.” Bittu, however, refused to reciprocate. He pointed his finger at Rahul and said, “Desh ke dushman ke saath main haath nahin milaunga (I will not shake hands with an enemy of the nation).”

#WATCH | Delhi: As Union MoS Ravneet Singh Bittu passes by the protesting Congress MPs at Makar Dwar, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi says, “Here is a traitor walking right by. Look at the face…”

LoP Rahul Gandhi offered to shake his hands, saying, “Hello brother, my traitor… pic.twitter.com/5wMgjM8KAW

— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2026

The LoP added, “Don’t worry, you will come back”, but Bittu skirted the protesting contingent and walked up. The protesting suspended MPs then erupted in slogans of “No” and “Narendar Surrender”.

“He (Rahul) believes that he is the biggest ‘deshbhakt’…My grandfather, Sardar Beant Singh (was consumed) by the fire that you lit in Punjab — the fire was lit by the Congress and the Gandhi family — our most prominent Gurdwara, the Guru Granth Sahib too bore bullets in…the Golden Temple,” Bittu said. “What he thinks of himself. After saying what he said to me, he extended his hand like a ‘shahenshah’. It is like he believes that he is the sole emperor of this country…,” he said.

The BJP was quick to swing to Bittu’s defence, deploying its prominent Sikh faces, including Puri and Arvinder Singh Lovely. Puri said that by referring to Bittu as a “traitor”, the LoP had disrespected the sacrifices of the entire Sikh community.

Taking on what he termed “the mindset” behind the desecration of the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar, Puri said: “A traitor is someone who betrays his nation; this term is used in espionage… this is a serious issue,” Puri said at a press conference, citing the sacrifice of Bittu’s grandfather, Beant Singh, killed by terrorists in 1995.

Referring to the desecration of the Golden Temple in 1984 without naming the then Congress government, Puri said, “Who did it (the desecration)?” This term (traitor), Puri said, was “completely unacceptable”, all the more because its subject came from a family that had sacrificed much for the nation.

Congress fielded former CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Amritsar MP Gurjeet Aujla in Rahul’s defence. “Rahul Gandhi ji called him ‘gaddaar dost’ (traitor friend)…the Congress and Rahul Gandhi ji gave him everything; the person who left the party when it needed him the most… if that person is not a traitor, then what is he?” Channi said. Aujla said Bittu chose to “sit in the lap of the dictator” while the whole nation was fighting against dictatorship.