From loyalist to 'traitor friend': The backstory to Rahul Gandhi-Ravneet Bittu face-off in Parliament

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi seen gesturing to Union MoS Ravneet Singh Bittu in Parliament complex on Wednesday. (PTI)

• Rahul Gandhi called Ravneet Singh Bittu a "traitor" in Parliament.
• Bittu rejected Gandhi's handshake, labeling Congress leaders as "nation's enemies"
• BJP condemned Gandhi's remark, citing historical sensitivities with Sikhs.

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The heated confrontation between Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu at the Makar Dwar in the Parliament complex on Wednesday had a long political backstory, stretching back to Bittu's dramatic exit from the Congress and his repositioning as one of the BJP's most vocal Punjabi faces on nationalism and the Khalistan issue.

When Gandhi publicly called Bittu his "traitor friend" and extended a handshake that the minister refused, it marked the collapse of a relationship that once symbolised continuity between the Gandhi family and one of Punjab's most loyal Congress lineages.

"Here is a traitor walking right by. Look at the face... Hello, brother, my traitor friend. Don't worry, you will come back [to Congress]," Gandhi said as he extended his hand in a gesture that was both sarcastic and confrontational.

Bittu declined the handshake and responded in kind, refusing to engage with Gandhi's overture. He hit back instantly, calling the Congress leader and his allies "desh ke dushman (enemies of the nation)".

Rahul Gandhi calling a Sikh minister a 'traitor' is not an isolated remark. It exposes a deep, disturbing continuity in Congress’ attitude towards the Sikh community.

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Let us not forget history. In 1984, under Rajiv Gandhi's Congress government, thousands of Sikhs were brutally… pic.twitter.com/9Ns4jvuGLf — BJP (@BJP4India) February 4, 2026

Bittu later elaborated in remarks to News18 that he had been loyal to Congress until his departure and how Gandhi's comments reflected a new political low. "I might not belong to the Gandhi family, but I have a turban on my head... you people are 'desh ke gaddar', enemies of the country... I won’t shake hands," he said, rejecting any association with what he described as anti-national rhetoric.

The BJP quickly seized on the incident, with party leaders condemning Gandhi's choice of words as inappropriate and offensive to the Sikh community, with some critics recalling historical sensitivities such as Operation Blue Star in their criticism of the remark.

Ravneet Singh Bittu is the grandson of Beant Singh, the former Punjab Chief Minister who led the state during the peak of militancy in the 1990s and was assassinated in a suicide bombing in 1995. For decades, the family was seen as inseparable from the Congress establishment.

Bittu himself served three terms as a Congress MP from Ludhiana, remained close to Rahul Gandhi during his early political years, and was widely regarded within the party as one of its dependable faces in Punjab.

That made his decision to quit the Congress in March 2024, just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections, particularly jarring.

The breaking point, according to Bittu and those close to him, was the Congress leadership's handling of the Khalistan issue and its perceived reluctance to take an unequivocal stand against separatist elements abroad.

In public statements after leaving the Congress, Bittu accused the party of "strategic silence" on anti-India activities by Khalistani groups, especially overseas, and of indulging in what he called "vote-bank ambiguity" in Punjab.

"I cannot compromise on nationalism," Bittu had said after joining the BJP, stressing that his family's sacrifices during the militancy years left him with "no room for confusion" on the issue.

Delhi: On a verbal altercation with Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, Union MoS Ravneet Singh Bittu says, "Today, even a street goon would not do what Rahul Gandhi has done. When I did not shake hands, he was about to physically assault me..." pic.twitter.com/dQMkpUnmvX — IANS (@ians_india) February 4, 2026

The BJP, on its part, amplified this positioning. Bittu was projected as a nationalist Sikh voice, sharply critical of Khalistan supporters and willing to call out foreign governments for allowing anti-India activities on their soil.

Bittu positioned his switch as one that wasn't just electoral. Ahead of the 2024 elections, he aligned himself with the BJP's hard line on internal security and nationalism the party was keen to project in Punjab, a state where it has historically struggled for traction.

The BJP rewarded this alignment by sending him to the Rajya Sabha and inducting him as a Minister of State in the Union Cabinet despite his defeat to Congress's state unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi's "traitor" jibe, thus, appeared not just personal but one that cut directly into the narrative Bittu sought to build since leaving the Congress. By refusing the handshake and responding with the charge that Gandhi and his party were acting against national interest, Bittu has responded in kind.