Members of the Congress party led by former chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday walked out of a meeting of the parliamentary panel on defence.

The Congress MPs walked out with Rahul Gandhi alleging that the Parliamentary Committee on Defence’s time was being wasted in discussing armed forces’ uniform instead of crucial issues concerning national security like how to better equip the soldiers, PTI quoted sources as saying.

According to sources, during the panel’s meeting today, Gandhi wanted to bring up the matter of Chinese aggression and better equipping soldiers deployed along the border in Ladakh. However, panel chairman Jual Oram (BJP) disallowed the Congress MP.

Gandhi had made his wish to speak on the issues known when the panel was discussing uniforms of the Army, Navy and Air Force in the presence of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat. The Congress MP said that instead of discussing the armed forces’ uniforms, the political leadership ought to take up the issues of national security and discuss how to strengthen the forces who are fighting the Chinese in Ladakh.

With the panel chairman denying an opportunity to Gandhi to speak, the Congress leader chose to walk out of the meeting. Congress members Rajeev Satav and Revanth Reddy decided to follow their leader.

It may be noted here that the Congress leader has been vocal in his criticism of the Narendra Modi government over the alleged mishandling of the now-months-long border standoff, during which India lost 20 soldiers in the June 15-16 Galwan Valley clash.

He has alleged that China has taken control of Indian territory in Ladakh with the Modi government choosing to close its eyes to the development.