Swamy a legend in his own mind, Congress views him as Modi's hitman
Dr Subramanian Swamy is one who always relishes the limelight. Little wonder then that he was beaming when the Rajya Sabha was adjourned within 15 seconds of his opening remarks on his comeback in Parliament after more than a decade in the wilderness.
Swamy waded in on behalf of the government, directly accusing Sonia Gandhi of wrongdoing in the AgustaWestland chopper deal. It mattered little to him that his opening remarks were expunged from the Rajya Sabha's records, perhaps a first for somebody making his debut.
Dr Swamy, however, remains unapologetic. "After all I was not nominated because I am a good boy," he reportedly told a colleague of his in Rajya Sabha. He enjoys the support of the hardliners, and a section of the leadership within the party that favours fixing the Congress leadership.
The Congress party views him as a pinch-hitter brought in to target the Gandhi family.
For somebody who refers to the late Rajiv Gandhi "as a friend", the former IIT professor is a trenchant critic of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and does not even bat an eyelid in blaming the Gandhis of anything and everything under the sun. If facts are a casualty, so be it.
Sonia Gandhi told reporters she wasn't "afraid of anybody" and will not be cowed down by "the campaign of calumny".
That the Congress has been girding itself for a bare-knuckled slugfest with Swamy was evident from its reaction the moment he got up to speak in Rajya Sabha. They swarmed into the well of the House, raising full-throated slogans.
"We know how to deal with elements like him, we will pay back with interest," says a senior Congress MP of the upper House.
The Congress is the single largest party in the upper House, with more than a handful of members with enough lung power to take on Swamy. It also hopes to draw on the support of allies like the JD(U), Left parties, RJD and NCP, who are not particularly enamoured of Swamy's tactics.
Senior Congress leaders like AK Antony, Dr Karan Singh are credited with the view that the party should remain above the fray, state facts, and avoid getting into a slugfest. "He has been made an MP with a specific purpose of targeting us and distracting us, we should deny him that opportunity," says a party veteran.