Cong drawing sadistic pleasure from crisis facing country: BJP

The BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress of deriving "sadistic pleasure" by "showing" that India has lost land to China in the ongoing military standoff in Ladakh and asserted that not an inch of Indian territory has been seized by the neighbouring country during the current crisis.

The BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress of deriving "sadistic pleasure" by "showing" that India has lost land to China in the ongoing military standoff in Ladakh and asserted that not an inch of Indian territory has been seized by the neighbouring country during the current crisis. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra hit out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, alleging that they are "conspiring" to lower the Indian Army's morale, as he took exception to the Congress Working Committee meeting and its criticism of the Modi government on a day the Army chief was visiting Ladakh.

At a time when the Army chief is in Leh boosting the morale of soldiers, the Congress Working Committee is saying that India has surrendered its territory, the BJP leader alleged, wondering if the opposition party wants to "fight" the armed forces. "What kind of battle is the Congress fighting," he asked. Everyday, Congress leaders keep saying that India is not performing well, India is losing, Indian Army has surrendered, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is weak and has surrendered, Patra alleged.

The Congress has surrendered its shame, he added, noting that it has become a policy of the opposition party to speak lies and mislead people over the issue. "The Congress is deriving sadistic pleasure," he said, adding that the Congress should not use misfortunes like COVID-19 or the standoff with China, falling on our country as a "launch pad" for the falling career of its "clown prince", Patra said, in a reference to Rahul.

Rahul has been attacking Modi over the border standoff, alleging that China has captured Indian territory. He recently taunted the prime minister by calling him "Surender Modi", seen as a play on the word "surrender".

The prime minister has asserted India has not lost its territory to China during the current standoff. Patra likened the criticism of the government by Gandhis to "Saas, bahut and saajish", saying the daily attack on the Centre by these top two Congress leaders was like "Maa, beta and saajish".

The Congress president on Tuesday said the current border crisis is attributable to the "mismanagement" of the BJP-led government and the "wrong policies" pursued by it. "Misfortunes do not come singly. India has been hit by a terrible economic crisis, a pandemic of huge proportions and, now, by a full-blown crisis on the borders with China. Much of each crisis is attributable to the mismanagement of the BJP-led NDA government and the wrong policies pursued by it," she said.

Hitting back, Patra questioned if Modi was responsible for the coronavirus and claimed that the Congress was lowering the morale of "corona warriors", a reference to health and emergency workers engaged in dealing with the pandemic, in the same way it was demotivating the Army over the border row. India will not tolerate politics on the issue of national security, and everyone should stand with the Army, he said.

Patra said India had legacy issues with China like the capture of its 43,000 sq km land (Aksai Chin) by the neighbouring country, but it has not ceded any new territory in the current crisis. "We are afraid that China has captured the mind of mother and son due to the 2008," he said.

The Congress and the Communist Party of China had signed a memorandum of understanding in 2008 to facilitate high level exchange between them and consult each other over important regional and international issues. The BJP has referred to it to target the Congress over its alleged proximity to the Chinese leadership.

Stepping up his attack on Modi on the border standoff with China, Rahul on Tuesday accused him of "destroying" India's position and "betraying our Army" by accepting Beijing's stand that it did not occupy any Indian land. Addressing a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, he said there has been a "complete and total failure" of foreign policy under the Modi government.