Launching a scathing attack against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who sent India Army to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and not the Wayanad MP. His remark came amid Opposition’s accusation of the Central government avoiding a discussion on Tawang clash.
“If we were being accommodative, then who sent the Indian Army to the LAC. Rahul Gandhi didn’t send them, Narendra Modi sent them,” he said.
He further asserted that India has sent troops to the LAC in large numbers amid border tensions with China amid Congress’ charge that the Centre is not doing enough to counter the threat. “We have today the largest deployment in history on the China border and I am naming China,” the EAM said.
He was answering a question about Congress’ allegation that neither PM Modi nor the EAM mentioned China.
EAM Jaishankar’s remarks came in the backdrop of Opposition’s protest in Parliament alleging that the government is refusing a discussion on the clash with Chinese forces in Tawang.
He also questioned the timing of billionaire investor George Soros criticism of PM Modi.
“This is politics by another means. Why sudden surge in reports and attention? You want to make a documentary, a lot happened in 1984, make a documentary on that. It’s not accidental. Election season has certainly started in London and New York,” Jaishankar told ANI in an interview.
What Rahul Gandhi told Italian Daily
Meanwhile, in a rare interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that democratic structures collapsed in India and the Parliament is no longer functioning. He also said that the press is no longer free in India.
On a question about India and fascism, Gandhi said, “Fascism is already there. Democratic structures collapse. Parliament is no longer working. I haven’t been able to speak for two years; as soon as I speak they take my microphone off. The balance of powers is off. Justice is not independent. Centralism is absolute. The press is no longer free.”
The Congress MP also exuded confidence that PM Modi can be defeated in the upcoming General Elections. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would 100 per cent be defeated if the other parties came together.
“… it’s sure he (PM Modi) can be beaten. Provided you oppose a vision: not linked to the right or the left, but to peace and union. Fascism is defeated by offering an alternative. If two visions of India confront each other in the vote, we will be able to prevail,” said Rahul Gandhi.
