Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday chaired a meeting with all of her party MPs in Parliament wherein she expressed concerns over the December 9 Tawang clash, and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-headed Centre is “adamant” to not hold a discussion in the matter.
“[The] government [is] being adamant and not holding a discussion on it. Public and House [are] unable to know [the] real situation. Why is [the] government not sending out a financial reply to Chinese transgression?” she asked at the Congress parliamentary party meeting, according to news agency ANI.
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The meet was held at Parliament’s Central Hall with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and other party MPs in attendance.
Several opposition MPs, including those of the Congress party, have now commenced a protest in front of the Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises. Gandhi is participating in the protest and was pictured alongside Congress veteran and former Union minister P Chidambaram.
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Opposition parties have been consistently demanding a discussion on the India-China border ties and the latest Chinese transgressions since the Winter session began on December 7. Ties between the two countries have worsened lately following the December 9 face-off between Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
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Disruptions have plagued Parliament almost regularly with both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha getting adjourned multiple times during the day. Meanwhile, a war of words has ensued between the Congress party and the BJP over former’s MP Rahul Gandhi’s “China preparing for war” comment.
During a press briefing in Jaipur, Rajasthan, last week on the completion of 100 days of Congress’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Rahul said that the central government is trying to “ignore” the Chinese regression and is not ready to “accept” the situation. “Before I came to this press conference, I was having lunch with my friend and said I can bet that the media will not ask any question about China…Brother, desh dekh rahe hai. Don’t think the country is not seeing,” he added.
The BJP hit back, with leader Rajyavardhan Rathore claiming Rahul is “close to China” and Union minister Pralhad Joshi saying the former Congress president need not be “taken seriously”. “The way our land went to China under Pandit Nehru and the Congress regime is known by all,” Joshi added.
On Monday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar during his address in Lok Sabha said that while the Centre has “no problem with political criticism”, one should not use words like “pitai” for jawans, in a swipe at Rahul’s statement.
(With inputs from PTI)