New Delhi, August 8
A usually reticent Sonia Gandhi shocked everyone in the Lok Sabha today on Day 1 of the monsoon session with her unprecedented show of aggression that forced BJP veteran LK Advani to retract his remarks that the UPA-II was an “illegitimate” government.

My mistake I admit my mistake. I am not referring to the 2009 General Election. I am referring to the vote of confidence in 2008 during the UPA-I. — LK Advani

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh complemented her aggression by terming as “disgraceful and unfortunate” Advani’s comments that were later expunged from records.

But it was the UPA chief who led the charge against the BJP inside the House, which witnessed massive furor and disruptions as the UPA and NDA ranks clashed on the issue.

Sonia gestured angrily at the Opposition benches, prompting her ministers and colleagues to clamour for Advani’s apology for the House to run. Rahul Gandhi was the only Congress MP sitting silently while the rest of the Treasury rose in a frenzied rage.

As for Advani, he gave up his initial resistance when the House reconvened after an adjournment around 2 pm and withdrew his remarks. For him, the situation had taken a truly embarrassing turn after his remarks in the House in an obvious attempt to dilute the consequences of his Sunday blog that predicted a non-Congress, non-BJP government in 2014.

“When I wrote the blog, a Congress spokesperson said I had conceded defeat. I want to say that while the UPA I was a duly elected government, the UPA-II was not…Speaker Madam, you were here when our MPs displayed crores of rupees in the House…Never in India’s history have crores been spent to win Lok Sabha elections, the way it was done in UPA-II,” Advani said, sending the Treasury benches in a mad rage.

It was only after Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj reminded Advani that he had actually intended to refer to the cash-for-vote scam during the 2008 vote of confidence for the UPA Government that the latter rose to admit he had made a mistake.

“I admit my mistake. I am not referring to the 2009 general elections. I am referring to the vote of confidence in 2008 during the UPA-I,” Advani said, though he eventually succumbed to the ruling coalition’s pressure to concede that he had used unparliamentary language.

As Leader of the House Sushil Kumar Shinde mentioned in the House during the uproar, “Advaniji is a seasoned leader. His comment that the UPA-II is illegitimate is an insult to all of us. He should withdraw his words.”

The interruptions happened soon after Advani diverted from the debate on Assam violence which he had initiated at noon today after the Speaker allowed his adjournment motion to discuss the Centre’s failure to prevent the violence.