Not being allowed to quote from ex-army chief's book as it indicts PM, defence minister: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that he was not being allowed to quote from former army chief MM Naravanes unpublished book in the Lok Sabha because it indicts Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for letting down the army during the 2020 conflict with China.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that he was not being allowed to quote from former army chief MM Naravane's unpublished book in the Lok Sabha because it indicts Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for ''letting down'' the army during the 2020 conflict with China. Speaking to reporters in the Parliament House complex here, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the government is afraid of a line that he wants to quote from the former army chief's book and asserted that he would state it in the Lower House. ''Naravane ji has written about the prime minister and Rajnath Singh ji clearly in his book, which has appeared in an article and I am quoting from that article. They are scared because if it comes out, the reality of Narendra Modi ji and Rajnath Singh ji will be revealed. What happened to the 56-inch chest when China was before us and advancing?'' Gandhi said. Gandhi's remarks came after a row erupted in Lok Sabha when he sought to quote from a ''memoir'' of the former army chief on the 2020 India-China conflict but faced strong opposition from the defence minister and other BJP members who accused the Congress leader of misleading the House, leading to uproar and adjournment of proceedings for the day. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla disallowed Gandhi from raising the issue, but he did not relent and several opposition leaders also rallied behind him. The House was adjourned twice and later for the day amid heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches. Earlier, as Gandhi rose to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the president's address, he said he would first like to respond to the charges made by the previous speaker, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, against the Congress on nationalism and began quoting from the ''memoir'' of Gen. Naravane. However, Singh strongly protested this and asked Gandhi to clarify whether the book had been published or not. Gandhi later told reporters that he was not being allowed to speak. ''I just have to say two-three lines which will reveal everything, but they are not allowing me to speak. I am saying that it is a matter of national security. These are the words of the army chief, a serious leader of our forces. It is a conversation he has had with Rajnath Singh ji and also with Narendra Modi ji. ''All I want to say in the House is what the army chief has written, what Modi ji told him, what Rajnath Singh told him, what order they gave. I don't know why they are so scared,'' Gandhi said. On Naravane's reported remarks that not an inch of land had been lost to China, Gandhi said that was not the issue and what mattered was what the prime minister and the defence minister said. ''Whether the land was taken or not is a separate question, we will come to that. The leader of the country is supposed to give direction. The leader of the country is not supposed to run away from decisions and leave decisions on other people's shoulders, that is what the PM has done,'' Gandhi alleged. Calling it the army chief's perspective, Gandhi asked why the government was afraid of it. ''This is the army chief...the book is not being allowed to be published, it is languishing. This is the army chief's perspective, it is his view,'' he said. ''Why are they so scared of what the army chief has to say. We will learn something from it. Of course, we will learn something about the PM, we will learn something about Rajnath Singh ji, but we will also learn something about the army and how they were let down by the political leadership of the country,'' Gandhi said. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said her brother would authenticate what he is saying and asserted that rules permit quoting from a published source, adding that the material Gandhi referred to had been published in an article.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)