To truly make an adversary uncomfortable, you have to pull him or her out of their comfort zone. That’s exactly what Congress President Rahul Gandhi did by hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi after making a speech in favour of the no-confidence motion moved by Telugu Desam Party (TDP), on the floor of the house.

The half-hour fiery speech had 17 references to the prime minister. Gandhi castigated the Modi government for its corruption, misgovernance and growing intolerance not just in the political sphere but across the country.

Before he concluded the speech, in the usual cacophony which has become commonplace during Parliament proceedings, Gandhi asked, “What?” and bent sideways to listen to the prompting of his compatriot, Jyotiraditya Scindia who was seated next to him. He then went on to say in Hindi, “You may hate me, you may call me a Pappu, but I don’t hate you one bit. Congressmen believe in the message of love…will transform you all to Congressmen,” he said while pointing towards the treasury benches.

After this, he ended the speech with a “dhanyavaad” (thank you) and almost immediately started to walk towards the prime minister without an iota of hesitation, as if it was a premeditated act. He walked confidently and on reaching the prime minister’s seat requested Modi to step out, to which the latter seemed a little perplexed, understandably, and gestured his dismay. Gandhi then, thrust himself forward and gave the prime minister what can only be described as a bear hug while the latter remained seated, bewildered.

This was Modi’s “hug diplomacy” served right back to him, with an extra-long nuzzle thrown in for good measure. Soon, much to Modi’s relief I imagine, Gandhi stood up and started to walk back with an expression of “mission accomplished” glowing on his face. It took the prime minister a few seconds to realise what had happened. He stopped Rahul, and while remaining seated, Modi shook Gandhi’s hand while patting his back with his other hand, smiling as he muttered some words to him.

This whole dramatic interlude ended almost as abruptly it started, as Gandhi walked back to his seat, without looking back, his hands folded as he passed the treasury benches. After he returned to his seat, Gandhi said, “This is what it means to be a Hindu…to love adversaries,” which is when he was cut short by the Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan, who insisted that his speech was over.

Jyotiraditya Scindia denied that the whole act was rehearsed. “Rahul Gandhi doesn’t work according to a script. He works according to his heart and emotion,” he clarified. But then he also denied that Rahul Gandhi read out his tribute message to the victims of Nepal earthquake from his mobile at the Nepal embassy in 2015. Although the footage of the speech is unambiguous.  

A team member of Gandhi’s team hinted that it was a “prepared stunt”. But what’s important is that at the end of the day, Gandhi played his cards well, and prompted some of the Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament to acknowledge privately, “Rahul has come of age”. After all, it’s known that the prime minister too, especially on his foreign trips, doesn’t take extempore questions. This was made known to the world when Prime Minister was in a spot of bother at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University in June this year. His lady English translator read out everything from a piece of paper, even things that weren’t said by the prime minister in his reply in Hindi. The fact that Modi doesn’t hold press conferences doesn’t inspire confidence either that he can deal with media extempore.

Gandhi is indeed improving, his speeches are candid and emotive. He honestly answered questions from the audience at an interactive session at Berkeley last year, even conceded that “arrogance had crept into the Congress party in 2012 and we stopped having conversations with people”. And there’s no denying the fact that Congress is getting smarter under Gandhi’s leadership. The @OfficeOfRG twitter handle is now followed by millions and is known for its witty and clever puns on BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Modi government. Lately, Congress has started employing the same theatrics which were deemed to be Modi’s domain. The online propaganda, the street shows, visit to temples, the motorcycle rides, eating at a Dalit household and what not.

Gandhi has come a long way since the infamous interview by Arnab Goswami in 2014, where he seemed to be at sea while answering questions posed to him and would look to someone off-camera for approval. There is growing consensus that today’s no-confidence speech was by far Gandhi’s best performance in Parliament.

Gandhi’s speech couldn’t have come at a better time with all the false news about his unverified comment where he supposedly told a Muslim audience that the “Congress is a Muslim party”. Which the BJP have till now not been able to corroborate.

A reluctant politician, Rahul Gandhi has definitely been very slow to get off the starting point, but we well might be seeing a seasoned politician and leader taking shape in front of our eyes – finally presenting himself as a potent challenger for the top job.