Rahul Gandhi's claims about China leads to uproar in Parliament, what did Priyanka say? What Shahi Tharoor said?
On Monday, the atmosphere in the Lok Sabha became heated when Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, during his speech, referred to an unpublished book by former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that the book mentions that four Chinese tanks had entered Indian territory in the Ladakh border area.
Following this statement, a heated exchange ensued between the ruling party and the opposition in the House.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was the first to object to Rahul's statement, and he was immediately followed by Home Minister Amit Shah. Both ministers said that rules and decorum should be followed when raising such sensitive issues in the House.
The Lok Sabha Speaker then intervened, citing parliamentary rules and preventing Rahul Gandhi from continuing his speech.
Amidst the uproar, Rahul Gandhi tried to speak for about 46 minutes, but due to the continuous noise and disruption, the House proceedings had to be adjourned until 3 PM.
When the proceedings resumed in the afternoon, Rahul started speaking again, but after just 9 minutes, the uproar resumed, and the House had to be adjourned until 4 PM.
The situation did not improve even at 4 PM. As soon as the proceedings began, there were again slogans and protests, due to which the Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned until 11 AM on Tuesday, after just 11 minutes.
What Priyanka said?
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi has reacted to the uproar in Parliament over Rahul Gandhi's statement.
Responding to questions from reporters, Priyanka Gandhi said, "My brother (Rahul Gandhi) would never defame the Army. He was reading the Army Chief's book; what's there to defame in that?...They (the ruling party) always say this when something comes out that they want to hide."
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "There is only one way to present the truth, the facts, and the core issue: go straight to the main point."
He added, "What was the core issue Rahul Gandhi raised? About Doklam, about China, about India-China relations, about Ladakh. Now, you are not even allowing questions to be asked, let alone providing any answers."
"First you say it's not in any published book, then you say you can't use a magazine. These are all ways to prevent the core issue from coming to light."
Earlier, the Congress party alleged that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi wanted to refer to General Manoj Mukund Naravane's book in Parliament, but the Modi government did not allow him to speak.
What Shahi Tharoor said?
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has supported the issue raised by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Parliament and questioned the government on why it is afraid of a discussion.
He said, “This is truly unfortunate. I think the government should not have reacted in this manner. They should have encouraged a discussion, clarified the situation, and cleared things up.”
“The whole issue of China is a matter of great concern for the entire country. There should be a full discussion on China. Let the External Affairs Minister, the Defence Minister, let all of them speak and let the people know what is happening. It shouldn't be a situation where everything is being hidden. This is not good for our democracy. It's not good for the functioning of Parliament either.”
Shashi Tharoor added, “I think the government overreacted because, as far as I understand, the issue Rahul Gandhi wanted to raise is already in the public domain. He was referring to an article published in Caravan magazine, which mentions a memoir by General Naravane that has not yet been published.”
He said, “So, instead of objecting to the fact that the book hasn't been published, the government should have allowed him to speak, because the magazine is publicly available anyway. Anyone can read the same article that Rahul Gandhi read.”
Shashi Tharoor concluded, “If the facts are wrong, the best response is to correct the facts, not to prevent the facts from coming out.”