New Delhi: A BJP parliamentarian on Thursday quipped that he and his party colleagues were afraid to hug Rahul Gandhi because they feared their wives would divorce them and they would be charged under "Section 377".

Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dubey added that he and other party MPs would be ready to hug Rahul once he got married. Section 377 of the penal code criminalises homosexual acts.

Dubey was responding to Rahul's statement that BJP parliamentarians were taking two steps back whenever he came across them - an allusion to how the Congress president had surprised and disconcerted Prime Minister Narendra Modi by hugging him in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

"Yes, we do fear hugging Rahul Gandhi. Married BJP MPs are afraid that if they hug Rahul Gandhi, their wives might divorce them or accuse them of developing different symptoms," Dubey was quoted by news agency ANI.

"The other thing is that the Supreme Court has not yet scrapped Section 377. So, what is the guarantee that Rahul or others will not file a case (under Section 377) for publicly hugging with bad intentions? So we are running away from Rahul Gandhi," he added.

Tweeters responded by posting pictures of Modi hugging heads of state and other world leaders. "What about this then?" said a Twitter user, attaching pictures of Modi hugging world leaders.

"Ohh... does the world also feel the same? Is BJP MP targeting the PM indirectly??" asked another, again with several pictures showing Modi's hugs.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had described Rahul's hug as a "political stunt" and dared the Congress president to try and embrace him.