MUMBAI: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar backed Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, saying he had flagged a serious national security concern cited in the memoir of former Indian Army chief MM Naravane and should therefore be allowed to speak in Parliament.
Pawar said that once the LoP authenticates the documents and evidence that he has tabled, then the speaker cannot prevent him from speaking on that subject.
Pawar said, "If the former Army chief has written something and if the leader of the opposition is saying something, then it is Mr Gandhi's right, and he should have been given that opportunity. The atmosphere of suspicion should not prevail unnecessarily in the country,” Pawar said, adding, "Why was there opposition (to Gandhi) when the copy was authenticated?" Pawar asked.
He said that a discussion in Parliament would have given people a clear picture of the issue.
The controversy around the memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, centres on events during the 2020 Indo-China stand-off.
A row broke out in the Lok Sabha on Monday after Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from the unpublished memoir of Naravane.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other BJP members objected, saying that the book had not been published, so the references to it should not be allowed to be quoted.
BJP leaders alleged that the Congress leader is "misleading" the House with these references.
Gandhi on Wednesday cited the unpublished "memoir" to claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not fulfil his responsibility during the India-China conflict in 2020 and passed the buck on to Naravane.
He said Naravane has written the full account of what happened in Ladakh.
Gandhi has also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, lodging his strong protest over being disallowed from speaking in the House on a matter of national security and terming it a "blot on our democracy".
He has also said that it was for the first time in history that LoP was not allowed to speak on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.