JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said nearly a month has passed since the Pahalgam terror attack, yet the attackers remain at large and there is no official word on any arrests despite repeated assurances from the authorities.
Public concern is growing as to whether the understanding with Pakistan to halt military action included any clause mandating the handover of terrorists to India, Gehlot said.
He also stated that while officials have acknowledged that the Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives on April 22, was the result of a "security lapse," no information has been provided as to who were held accountable or what action was taken against those responsible for the slip.
"Even after five years, the country still does not know what action was taken against those responsible for the security lapse that led to the Pulwama attack (in 2019), or how hundreds of kgs of RDX reached there," Gehlot said in a post on X.
In another post on X, the Congress leader referred to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's recent remarks on the Pakistan military being informed prior to India's airstrikes on terror sites and slammed it as a "blunder."
"S Jaishankar has exposed the failure of the Modi government! Why was Pakistan given information about the start of the attack? Did this not put our Air Force in danger? Was this the reason we had to suffer losses in the Air Force? Then why should the Modi government not be held accountable for this blunder? We demand answers. Those who have betrayed India must also be held accountable!," he wrote.
On a different note, the veteran leader accused Rajasthan Assembly Speaker (Vasudev Devnani) of taking decisions, which do not stand the test of dignity and impartiality of his post.
"First, he suspended six Congress MLAs. Then, for the first time, he discussed in the House unconfirmed news in the media and made unwanted comments against state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra in his absence, which was an insult to public mandate," Gehlot alleged.
"Despite a court sentencing the BJP MLA from Anta (Kanwar Lal Meena) for three years on May 1, his Assembly membership has not been cancelled yet.
"The Supreme Court in the Lily Thomas case gave clear instructions that if an MP or MLA is sentenced for two years (or more), his membership will be cancelled from the day of sentencing," Gehlot said in a post on X.
He also said that senior Congress leader and MLA Narendra Budhaniya was made the chairman of the Privilege Committee of the House on April 30, but now he has been removed from the post.
"The tenure of the chairman of such committees is generally at least one year. This is probably the first time in the history of the Vidhan Sabha that a chairperson has been changed after just 15 days," Gehlot said.
Claiming that the decisions taken by the speaker raise questions on his impartiality, Gehlot said, "He should reconsider the decisions and act in accordance with the traditions of the House as per law."