The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday expelled its national spokesperson Shankar Charan Tripathi from the party for criticising its alliance leader Rahul Gandhi for hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the debate on No Confidence Motion in Lok Sabha last week. A letter issued by RJD national secretary general S M Qamar Alam said that "Shankar Charan Tripathi has been relieved of all his responsibilities in the party, besides cancelling the party membership." Tripathi had lashed out at the Congress president for hugging the prime minister, and later winking, during the no-confidence motion moved by the TDP in Lok Sabha on Friday. Talking to The Telegraph, Tripathi had said, "He (Rahul Gandhi) has been a parliamentarian for the past 15 years. "It was not expected from a leader like him to wink on the floor of the House. So many cameras are installed in the house. Ward and watch people are also there. In such a situation he winked. His act was akin to that of Priya Prakash Varrier, whose act of winking in a clip of the movie Oru Adaar Love propped her to stardom." He also said that Gandhi's act was childish and unexpected from a person who considers himself a prime ministerial candidate in 2019. The Congress is an ally of the RJD in Bihar.
