Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday came out in strong support of party leader Rahul Gandhi after the Lok Sabha witnessed repeated disruptions over Gandhi’s attempt to quote from former Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s unpublished memoir during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Tharoor described the government’s response as an “overreaction” and said Rahul Gandhi was merely raising an issue already in the public domain. He clarified that Gandhi had referred to an article published in The Caravan magazine, which carried excerpts from General Naravane’s yet-to-be-released memoir.
“As far as I understood, what Rahul ji wanted to raise was based on a published article. The government, instead of objecting to the fact that the book has not been published, should have let him speak. The magazine is publicly available and anyone can read it,” Tharoor said, adding that he had personally read the article.
Tharoor questioned the government’s reluctance to allow discussion on sensitive national security issues, particularly China. “Why do we have a government that is afraid of discussion? The entire issue of China is a matter of great concern to the nation. There should be a full discussion in Parliament with the Foreign Affairs Minister and Defence Minister explaining what is going on,” he said, warning that suppressing debate was unhealthy for democracy.
He also clarified that the Caravan article does not blame the armed forces or soldiers in any manner.
The Lok Sabha witnessed sharp exchanges as senior BJP leaders, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, objected to Gandhi citing an unreleased book, arguing that it violated parliamentary rules. Their objections led to repeated adjournments.
Later, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that he was being prevented from speaking because the government was “scared” of the contents of the former Army chief’s account. He said the issue was not merely about territory but about leadership and accountability during the India-China standoff. “This is not my view. This is what the former Army Chief has written. Why are they afraid of his perspective?” Gandhi asked, alleging that the political leadership failed to stand up to China.
