Bhubaneswar: While Congress President Rahul Gandhi's hug to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha today became the 'topic of the day' in political circles, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Niranjan Patnaik praised him for his "brilliant" speech during the no-confidence motion debate.

Taking to Twitter, Patnaik said Rahul Gandhi's speech exposed BJP's crony capitalism, corruption, hypocrisy and anti-people stand.

"BJP tried its best to disrupt the speech. It shows that Rahul Gandhi’s words hit them where it hurts PM Modi the most," Patnaik said.

On the other hand, the OPCC chief came down heavily on the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for walking out of the Lok Sabha as the House began a debate on the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

Terming the BJD as an "obedient ally" of the BJP, Patnaik said, "Both these parties are hand-in-glove with each other and have been deceiving Odias all along."

"The relation between BJP and BJD is clear as a crystal now. They think they can fool us with their posturing but their stand is totally exposed. People of Odisha will never forget that when it came to delivering a decisive blow to the BJP, BJD chose to walk out," he said.

The Odisha unit of the BJP also criticised the BJD for the walk out. "The BJD often creates uproar alleging Centre's negligence towards Odisha. However, the BJD MPs did not raise their issues when they got a proper platform today," said BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty.

Notably, the BJD members members walked out of the Lok Sabha ahead of the no-confidence motion debate today. BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab said injustice had been done to Odisha in the last 14 years and the BJP government at the Centre has failed to safeguard the interests of the state.

"In the last 14 years, the BJD has witnessed that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for 10 years and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for four years have done injustice with Odisha. And this discussion is not going to help Odisha. So we are not going to participate," Mahtab said following which the party members staged a walkout.