Yogi Adityanath dares Rahul to try and hug him

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday took a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi and dared him to try and hug him.

"Rahul Gandhi will have to think 10 times before hugging me," said Yogi Adityanath in an interview to a news channel.

Yogi was referring to the Congress chief's hug to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha last week.

The UP Chief Minister also termed Rahul's hug to Modi as a political stunt and said the Congress chief behaviour is childish.

When asked if he would reciprocate the same, Yogi said, "Such political stunts are not acceptable to me at any cost. Gandhi does not have wisdom and decision making powers of his own. A sensible person

will never do such things (hug)."

Last week, BJP also said that the Congress president might forcibly hug Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the people of the country would not embrace him in next year's Lok Sabha election.

After a no-holds-barred and scathing criticism of Modi on several issues including Rafale jet deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi walked across to the Prime Minister and hugged him, a gesture which took the Lok Sabha members by surprise.

"This is what it means to be a Hindu," Gandhi said after coming back to his seat amid a big applause from his party members, including his mother Sonia Gandhi and other leaders present.