Rahul says Speaker bowed while shaking hands with PM, Birla says respect to elders

“No one is bigger than the Speaker inthis House and everyone should bow to him. Iwill bow to you and so would the entire Opposition”

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Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Speaker Om Birla had a verbal exchange in the Lok Sabha on Monday when the Congress leader questioned why he bowed before Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he and the PM shook hands with him on his election as the presiding officer.

As the treasury benches objected to Gandhi's remarks, Speaker Birla responded saying he maintains the tradition of bowing to elders.

Gandhi, however, said the Speaker is the tallest leader of the House.

Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Gandhi talked about the first sitting of the 18th Lok Sabha when the Speaker was elected, and he along with Prime Minister Modi, walked the Speaker to his podium.