New Delhi: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over former Army Chief General M M Naravane’s memoir.
Gandhi challenged PM Modi, saying that if the Prime Minister comes to the Lok Sabha today, he will personally hand over a copy of the memoir to him.
“I don’t think the PM will have the guts to come to the Lok Sabha today because if he comes, I am going to give him this book. If the PM comes, I will go physically and hand him this book so he can read it and the country can get to know the truth.”
“This is Mr Naravane’s book. He has given an entire account of Ladakh in this book. I have been told that I cannot quote this book. The main line is what the PM said – ‘Jo uchit samjho wo karo (Do what you think is right)’” Gandhi said.
Citing the book Gandhi said, “When the (former) Chief of Army Staff General Naravane called up Rajnath Singh-ji and said that Chinese tanks have reached the Kailash Ridge, so what should we do? First, Rajnath Singh did not respond to him. He (Naravane) asked Jaishankar-ji, NSA and Rajnath Singh, but received no reply. He then called up Rajnath Singh once again. Rajnath Singh told him that he would ask the ‘top’,” said Gandhi.
“The standing order of the ‘top’ was that if Chinese forces come in, we should not fire on them without permission. Naravane-ji and our Army wanted to fire on those tanks because they had entered our territory. Narendra Modi-ji gave a message that ‘jo uchit samjho wo karo’. It means that Narendra Modi did not fulfil his responsibility. He told the Army chief to do whatever he wants as ‘mere bas ki nahi hai’. Naravane-ji writes, ‘I felt really alone, I was abandoned by the entire establishment’,” he added.
