Nadda hits out at Rahul Gandhi over remarks on Ladakh standoff; accuses him of demoralising forces

Rahul Gandhi had raised questions on whether "unarmed soldiers" had to fight the Chinese Army and alleged that the prime minister had surrendered Indian territory to the Chinese aggression. "The language used by an individual reflects the family's culture.

BJP chief J P Nadda on Saturday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Sino-India face-off in Ladakh, alleging he was lowering the morale of defence forces through his tweets. Addressing a virtual rally for Rajasthan, he said that "some opposition leaders are demonstrating their limited knowledge" and "asking why did soldiers go unarmed".

"These leaders are lowering the morale of defence forces through their tweets when jawans are defending the country in Galwan on India-China border. "Don't you know the international rules and agreements," he said. Rahul Gandhi had raised questions on whether "unarmed soldiers" had to fight the Chinese Army and alleged that the prime minister had surrendered Indian territory to the Chinese aggression.

"The language used by an individual reflects the family's culture. Indian families do not have the culture of using such language as done by you," Nadda said. "Forget about honouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, you did not honour your PM. You tore his ordinance. People of the country and the world know this," the BJP chief said attacking Gandhi.

He was referring to an incident when Rahul Gandhi had denounced an ordinance by the Manmohan Singh government in 2013 to nullify a Supreme Court order on disqualifying convicted lawmakers. During a press conference, Rahul Gandhi had termed the ordinance complete nonsense that should be "torn apart and thrown out". The BJP president said there should be constructive opposition. "Sadly, we are facing an opposition which has no substance or direction," he said.

Nadda also referred to Friday's all-party meeting with the prime minister saying that everyone resolved to stand together but the Congress kept asking questions. He noted that the PM has said in his statement that "neither they (Chinese army) have intruded into our border nor has any post been taken over by them". Indian defence forces are fully capable of securing borders of the country in water, land and air and they have been given a free hand, the BJP chief said in the Jan samvad rally for party workers in Bikaner and Jodhpur division.

Paying tributes to the soldiers who died in a violent clash with the Chinese army in Galwan Valley on Monday, Nadda said that their martyrdom would not go in vain. "I want to assure their families that their martyrdom will not go in vain. May God give strength to those families because they were not just the sons of their families, they were the sons of the country…. I want to say that the whole country stands with them," he said. The virtual rallies are being organised by the BJP to mark the completion of the first year of the second term of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. "The Modi government has completed six decades of work in six years," Nadda said and referred to its various achievements.