Rijiju slams Khera over ‘indecent’ remarks on his swimming video

Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday slammed Congress lawmaker Pawan Khera over what he called an “indecent” comment on his swimming, warning that he will report Khera’s “indiscipline conduct” to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday slammed Congress lawmaker Pawan Khera over what he called an “indecent” comment on his swimming, warning that he will report Khera’s “indiscipline conduct” to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

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“Dear Pawan Khera, I’ll report to CM Himanta Biswa Sarma ji about your indisciplined conduct if you talk about half-naked swimming. Do you swim with a full suit & coat?” Rijiju wrote on X.

The sharp exchange comes days after Rijiju posted a video of himself swimming in a river in Arunachal Pradesh and challenged senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to do the same.

Khera had mocked the video as a “half-naked swim,” suggesting it showed how deeply Gandhi has unsettled the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He wrote that Rijiju “can’t even go for a half-naked swim without invoking Rahul Gandhi.”

Rijiju responded by questioning Khera’s standing to make the remark, pointing to his own record of contesting eigth Lok Sabha elections against Khera’s single nominated term in the Rajya Sabha. He said his swim was meant to inspire people around him and had nothing to do with Gandhi.

The video that triggered the exchange showed Rijiju swimming in a fast-flowing river in Arunachal Pradesh, where he called himself “yahan ka khiladi,” the player of these waters, and dared Gandhi to attempt the same currents. A follow-up video explained why swimming there differs from calmer rivers such as the Yamuna.

The swim challenge builds on a longer fitness exchange between Rijiju and Gandhi. In December 2025, Rijiju shared a video of a Parliament conversation with Gandhi and said the discussion was only about fitness, with Gandhi asking about his exercise routine and inviting him to train together. Gandhi referred to that conversation again in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session in February, using jiu-jitsu moves as a political analogy.

Rijiju’s invocation of Himanta Biswa Sarma is not incidental. Khera and the Assam chief minister have a running history that predates this swim spat by years. Khera was arrested by Assam Police in February 2023 over remarks he made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sarma said at the time that Khera had tendered an unconditional apology but added that “the majesty of law shall always prevail,” and that police would take the matter to its “logical conclusion.”

More recently, ahead of the Assam assembly elections, Khera alleged at press conferences that Sarma’s wife held multiple undisclosed passports and foreign companies, allegations the couple rejected. Sarma later said the claims had hurt Assamese sentiment and warned Khera to “wait and watch this film,” adding that he “seldom” goes back on his word. That episode led to a police complaint by Sarma’s wife and a search of Khera’s Delhi residence by Assam Police in April.

In his response to the swimming remark, Rijiju first took issue with the phrase Khera had used, asking him directly whether he swims “with full suit and coat” himself. He then drew a contrast in political experience, noting that Khera is serving his first term as a nominated Rajya Sabha member while he has contested eight Lok Sabha elections. On that basis, he said Khera had no right to make what he called an “indecent comment.”

Rijiju went on to explain why he had reacted at all. He said he swims with villagers in Arunachal Pradesh purely to inspire the people around him, and that Gandhi does not figure in his thinking while he is doing so. He added that he only responded after Congress supporters began drawing comparisons between his swimming and Gandhi’s, calling himself a natural “khiladi” in the region’s rivers who has never needed training for such activities. He closed by asking Khera to stop resorting to abusive language.

Khera, for his part, had built his post around the idea that Rijiju’s video reflected a deeper unease within the BJP about Gandhi’s political relevance. Beyond the swim video, he pointed to remarks by senior BJP leader Giriraj Singh, who had described his own 74th birthday in terms Khera characterised as an attempt to appear newly relevant. He closed the post with a line in Hindi questioning what state the party had reduced its senior leaders to in trying to counter Gandhi.

The two statements have kept the exchange confined to social media so far, with neither the Congress nor the BJP issuing a formal party position.