Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asked that the house declare IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's moustache the 'national moustache'. "Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman should be awarded and his moustache should be made 'national moustache'," Chowdhury said, ANI reported.
Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat.
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Before his jet was hit, he downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan. Varthaman was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.
After he was captured, Varthaman showed courage and grace in handling the most difficult circumstances for which he was praised by politicians, strategic affairs experts, ex-servicemen, celebrities and people in general.
Post his return, his signature gunslinger moustache had become quite a rage amongst the youth.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.
Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations the next day. However, the IAF thwarted their plans.
Chowdhury, a senior leader from West Bengal, was announced the Congress leader in Lok Sabha. The Congress failed to get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it did not get the benchmark 10 per cent seats required to stake claim for the post. This is the second time in a row that the grand old party has failed to get the post.