SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: The Congress hasn’t liked party leader Digvijaya Singh’s remarks questioning the 2016 surgical strike. The final word has come from Rahul Gandhi who termed his remarks ridiculous. However, the BJP wouldn’t let it go, and has threatened to take the controversy to the people.
Rahul’s strong denunciation came during his Bharat Jodo Yatra’s halt in Jhajjar Kotli, Jammu. He said the party trusts the Indian Army and that armed forces don’t need to give any evidence for their daredevilry. “I don’t agree with what Digvijaya has said. These were his personal views and not that of Congress,” Rahul said. “We are crystal clear that armed forces don’t need to provide proof of anything,” Rahul said. Digvijaya on Monday questioned the 2016 surgical strikes and said there was no evidence to prove that such an action took place at all.
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Asked why no action was taken against Digvijaya, Rahul said, “We are a democratic party and not a dictatorship. We don’t run our party on principles of coercion. We don’t appreciate Digvijaya’s personal views. The party’s views are above his views.” “The views of the party are generated from conversations within the party. In this case, I am sorry to have to say this about a senior leader, he said a ridiculous thing,” said Rahul.
Asked about the party’s stand on Article 370 revocation, Rahul said, “Our position is very clear. Our working committee resolution is there and you can read it”. He, however, said the party wants early restoration of statehood in J&K.
On BJP’s charge that there is a “Pakistan in Congress DNA,” he said the Congress gave independence to India. It created all the institutions and the country was built on Congress’s philosophy. When we were fighting against the imperial British, the BJP and RSS were standing with the imperialists. Their ideology and their leaders advanced the two-nation theory. We did not give it”.
In Delhi, the BJP was sulfurous, saying the Congress was “habituated to maligning the Army’s reputation. “The Congress must clear its stand on terrorism and national security. It goes without saying that Congress is habituated to casting doubts over the Army’s operations against the country’s enemy,” former Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.