Rahul Gandhi and Nitin Gadkari engage in a friendly exchange at R-Day celebrations

Gadkari has lately raised a lot of eyebrows in the party, particularly for overpraising Congress leaders and also at one instance questioning “Where are the jobs” The Congress had then seized the opportunity and heaped praise on the Minister in one of its tweets. "We applaud Nitin Gadkari for being the first BJP Minister to speak the truth and courageously raise the question that we and the people of India have been asking."

Rahul Gandhi and NitinGadkari in conversation at Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi. PIC/cleviic (Twitter)

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi and Nitin Gadkari’s friendly chat became the sidebar to Republic Day celebrations in Rajpath in which India’s military might and magnificent parades were on display. Keeping political bickering aside, the Congress President and the Union Minister were seen on cameras having a casual conversation in the front row. Last year, the Congress was left red-faced for relegating Gandhi’s seat to the fourth row. The party had pointed out that his mother Sonia Gandhi was always accorded a front row seat. Gadkari has lately raised a lot of eyebrows in the party, particularly for overpraising Congress leaders and also at one instance questioning “Where are the jobs” The Congress had then seized the opportunity and heaped praise on the Minister in one of its tweets. "We applaud Nitin Gadkari for being the first BJP Minister to speak the truth and courageously raise the question that we and the people of India have been asking."

We applaud Nitin Gadkari for being the first BJP Minister to speak the truth and courageously raise the question that we and the people of India have been asking, #WhereAreTheJobs?https://t.co/DC98xujWcd

— Congress (@INCIndia) August 6, 2018

"Excellent question Gadkari Ji. Every Indian is asking the same question," Rahul had also posted on Twitter. Also last month, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had surprised many by showering praise on Gadkari at a city event. “Nitin Gadkari ji has never made us feel that he belongs to a rival party. I don’t know about others, but the way he has showered love on us, I don’t think the BJP people have got that much love,”Kejriwal said. The comments were also seen by political experts as taking veiled swipes at PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi.