The Congress on Monday stood its ground and amplified the questions Rahul Gandhi has been asking on China’s “land grab” in Ladakh, refusing to allow the BJP to silence the narrative on the basis of the Supreme Court’s oral observations slamming the leader of the Opposition.
As the BJP scrambled to cash in on the apex court’s castigation of Rahul for his remark that China had occupied 2000sqkm of Indian territory after the Galwan clash, the Congress came out full steam to justify the questions the party had been raising for the past five years and pointed to voices within the government that cast doubts on the official narrative.
The BJP focused on the Supreme Court’s observation that “if you (Rahul) are a true Indian, you would not be saying such a thing” and questioned the credibility of the Congress MP, billing his remarks as anti-India and demoralising for the soldiers.
“I am happy that the Supreme Court has given him a warning. It is a strong rebuke for making unsubstantiated claims. I hope he and the Congress mend their ways after the rebuke from the Supreme Court,” parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said.
Rahul’s lawyer and Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi weighed in as the war of words went on for hours. “Ironical and amazing! Losers crowing whole day against #RG! #SC forms prima facie opinion in favour of #RG and issues notice in defamation case. Complainant represented by senior counsel objects. Notice still issued. If u read social media & #BJP trolls or Mr #Malviya, it sounds like #RG lost today!
“2nd #RG gets stay of proceedings despite opposition by senior counsel from complainant. Again trolls and BJP crowers suggest ignominious defeat!
“3rd these people quote & gloat on oral observations of #SC, always made to elicit responses from each side in every case to falsely suggest damnation findings against #RG. Victor in court becomes loser; loser gloats as if he got unprecedented victory (!) & janta confused & confounded. Politics wins; reason, rationality, law and judicial order in black and white loses!!” he posted on X.
For the Congress, the first salvo was fired by communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh. “Ever since 20 brave soldiers were martyred in Galwan on June 15, 2020, every patriotic Indian has sought answers to the following questions. Yet instead of providing answers, the Modi government for the past five years has chosen to obfuscate and hide the truth with its policy of DDLJ — Deny, Distract, Lie, and Justify,” he posted in Hindi on X.
He flagged nine questions that referred to various comments made by those in the know, including Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, who was quoted as saying: “We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020.”
“Does the disengagement agreement of October 21, 2024, truly take us back to the status quo?” Ramesh asked.
He sought to know whether it was not true that the Indian patrol team needed Chinese consent to access their patrolling points in Depsang, Demchok and Chumar.
“Are Indian patrols not prevented from accessing their Patrolling Points in Galwan, Hot Spring, and Pangong Tso by ‘buffer zones’ that lie predominantly within the Indian claim line?” Ramesh asked.
He also wanted to know if it was correct that the Leh SP submitted a paper at the annual DGPs’ conference stating that “India had lost access to 26 out of 65 patrolling points in eastern Ladakh”.
Ramesh claimed that the Modi government was pursuing “normalisation” with a “hostile China because of its cowardice and misplaced economic priorities” after China’s “crucial role in Pakistan’s military operations during Operation Sindoor”.