Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Wednesday accused the Centre of acting in a dictatorial manner by not allowing Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to speak in the Lok Sabha on issues concerning the China border.
Addressing a press conference here, Sapkal said Rahul Gandhi has been prevented from speaking despite attempting to raise serious and important questions regarding developments on the India-China border.
He alleged that the Centre was suppressing facts related to China and violating parliamentary conventions and democratic norms. “It is acting in a dictatorial manner by not letting Rahul Gandhi speak,” he said.
Referring to the unpublished “memoir” of former Army chief M M Naravane, ‘Four Stars of Destiny’, Sapkal said he had made clear disclosures on the China issue, which Rahul Gandhi wanted to raise in Parliament.
The Congress leader said a discussion on the China border situation was necessary and that citizens had the right to know what had happened on the frontier.
His party has alleged that the Modi government has remained silent on key security issues and has “concealed” facts related to the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash in eastern Ladakh. A face-off between India-China border troops in the Galwan Valley had resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.
Sapkal also claimed that social activist Sonam Wangchuk was jailed after raising concerns about Chinese intrusion into Indian territory, alleging that this showed the government’s intent to silence dissent.
Raising questions over the aircraft accident that claimed deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s life, Sapkal said doubts were being expressed at various levels over the incident. He said that while details of Pawar’s last conversation had gone viral, the cockpit voice recorder data had not been made public, and the probe had seen “unexplained” delays.
He sought to know why the government acted swiftly to facilitate the swearing-in of Sunetra Pawar but showed “no urgency” in conducting a detailed investigation into the plane crash.
Sapkal said the circumstances concerning the accident involving a disciplined leader like Ajit Pawar raised serious questions and that doubts would persist until the exact cause was established.
Without elaborating, Sapkal alleged the state government had failed to take the matter seriously, claiming that a letter sent by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to a Union minister after Ajit Pawar’s funeral and the subsequent response appeared to have “closed the issue prematurely”.
Earlier, Ajit Pawar’s uncle and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar had said that the plane crash was an accident and it should not be politicised.
Replying to another question, Sapkal said the “absence of a full-time” home minister in Maharashtra had led to a “collapse” of law and order. He alleged that crime syndicates such as the ‘Koyta gang’ (sickle-wielding group) and the Bishnoi gang, along with sand, drug and organised crime mafias, were thriving under “government patronage”.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis holds the home portfolio. PTI M NR
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