Rahul Gandhi and Jagdambika Pal (Images/Agencies)

NEW DELHI: A sharp exchange took place in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday between leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Jagdambika Pal, who was presiding over the House in place of Speaker Om Birla.The session was chaired by Pal after Om Birla decided not to preside over proceedings until the Opposition’s notice seeking his removal is disposed of by the House. During the debate, Rahul Gandhi referred to Pal’s past association with the Congress.Addressing the Chair, Gandhi said, “You (Jagdambika Pal), are an ex-Congress member, so I will do a special favour today, I will back down. You know we have a fondness for you. We know your heart is not there, your heart is here.”Pal responded firmly, reminding Gandhi of his constitutional role in the House. “I am here as a Presiding Officer. If you are sitting there, it is because you have not taken my advice.”The exchange came amid a broader and combative speech by Gandhi during the discussion on the Union Budget 2026–27, where he mounted a strong attack on the government’s handling of India’s strategic and economic interests.Jagdambika Pal, who now represents the BJP, was earlier a Congress leader and served in the 15th Lok Sabha as a Congress MP before resigning from the party and joining the BJP in 2014. At the time of his resignation, Pal had announced that he had stepped down both from the Lok Sabha and from the Congress party. “I met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today and tendered my resignation. I have resigned from my Lok Sabha seat as well as from the party,” he had said.Explaining his decision, Pal had indicated dissatisfaction with the party’s internal functioning. “After serving in Congress for so long, I had been getting a feeling for sometime that I am not being able to put forth my views and suggestions and there was a problem in communication with the leadership,” he said.He had further remarked, without naming Rahul Gandhi directly, “The emerging leadership of Congress perhaps does not require senior leaders like me. Senior leaders like me are not being able to communicate, not being able to give their views. Their suggestions are not being heard and they are not being given respect.”Pal had added, “What is the point in staying put if I can’t command respect and can’t even communicate with the leadership,” while highlighting that he had worked in the party from the time of Indira Gandhi to Sonia Gandhi before deciding to quit.