NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is always keen to make a point, even if it means walking out of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.
On Wednesday, Gandhi wanted a discussion on the prevailing security situation on the Line of Actual Control, but the chair denied the permission.
Sources were cited by India Today news portal as saying Gandhi had raised the issue of national security in relation to Pakistan, the standoff with China and the Taliban capturing fresh territories in Afghanistan.
However, the Committee's Chairman, Jual Oram of the BJP, denied permission as it was not part of the meeting’s pre-determined agenda.
Rahul Gandhi also reportedly demanded the meeting be reconvened, but this demand too was turned down. Following this, he and other Congress MPs walked out.
Gandhi has been excessively critical of the government on the issue of the border dispute with China and has accused it of mishandling the situation. He is of the view that rather than discussing the working of cantonment boards, the panel should deliberate on more relevant and important security issues like the standoff with China in eastern Ladakh and the terror threats from Pakistan.
ADHIR GETS REPRIVE:
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (65) may get temporary reprieve and continue as the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament; Rahul Gandhi (50) was tipped to succeed him, but he has sought some time to decide whether to head the party in the Lok Sabha or get back as the Congress President, a post he relinquished after the drubbing of the Congress in the last Lok Sabha elections.
