New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) The Congress on Monday alleged that the Modi government “heckled” Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to stop him from speaking in the Lok Sabha on the India-China border conflict of 2020 from former Army chief Manoj Naravane’s “memoir” as it was afraid that the “truth of its incompetence” would be exposed.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that Rahul Gandhi raised an important issue of national security in Parliament, but the Modi government is avoiding a discussion on it.
“The ideological foundation of the RSS-BJP itself rests on concealing facts, which is precisely why this cowardly Modi government is dodging answers on serious questions of national security in Parliament as if someone has touched its most painful nerve,” he said in a post on X in Hindi.
“What exactly is written in the former Army Chief’s book that has the big-shot ministers of the Modi government so rattled? Who is stopping his book from being published? “The entire country knows that the BJP’s nationalism is fake! They make grand speeches about patriotism, yet after the supreme sacrifice of our 20 soldiers in Galwan in 2020, Modi ji himself hands over China a clean chit. Isn’t this the truth?” Kharge said.
He suggested that the country has been taken into confidence on matters of national security and foreign policy in Parliament in the past. “Why have those who talk about being the ‘Mother of democracy’ now become so busy trampling on the soul of democracy?” the Congress chief also asked.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said that the government had deployed senior-most Cabinet ministers and “misused” rules to “silence” Gandhi in the House.
“This faux nationalist government is so afraid of the truth of their incompetence coming out that they have deployed a bunch of seniormost Cabinet Ministers to prevent LOP Sh. Rahul Gandhi ji from speaking.
“They moved heaven and earth to stall the publishing of Ex Army Chief Gen. Manoj Naravane ji’s book – and now when excerpts are coming out which expose their so-called nationalist commitments, they are heckling and silencing the Leader of Opposition,” the Congress leader said in a post on X.
He alleged that by “blatantly misinterpreting the rules of procedure, the Government is depriving the House and the people of India from knowing about their Himalayan blunders in the conflict against China”.
“It is a textbook case of 21st-century fascism, where first you stifle dissent in public, and then misuse rules to further silence your opponents,” Venugopal alleged.
A row erupted in the Lok Sabha on Monday when Rahul Gandhi sought to quote from the unpublished “memoir” of Naravane but Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with other BJP members, strongly opposed it and accused the Congress leader of “misleading” the House.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla disallowed Gandhi from raising the issue, but he did not relent and several opposition leaders also rallied behind him. The House was adjourned twice and later for the day amid uproar as heated exchanges took place between the treasury and opposition benches.
The BJP alleged that Rahul Gandhi undermined the dignity of Parliament and hurt the morale of the Indian soldiers with his false accusations in the Lok Sabha. The ruling party’s leaders, including ministers, asked Gandhi to stop “speaking the language of anti-India elements”. PTI SKC RT
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