Congress mum on Rahul's absence from Parl panel meetings, questions BJP on defence record

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday hit out at BJP president JP Nadda for his criticism of Rahul Gandhi's absence from the meetings of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. Terming Nadda's comments as "insidious", he claimed that the Narendra Modi government was lying about the Chinese transgression to "mislead" the nation. Moreover, Surjewala slammed the Centre for allegedly cutting dearness pay of Armed Forces and military pensioners worth Rs.11,000 crore from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. 

He also levelled another allegation that the Estimates Committee of the Parliament headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had submitted a report citing that the defence expenditure under the present government was the lowest since 1962. The Congress spokesperson added that the Standing Committee on Defence headed by BC Khanduri had held 68% of Indian equipment as "vintage". Thereafter, he questioned Nadda on why the Prime Minister's Office had not sought to act despite Khanduri seeking its intervention on the allocation of the adequate defence budget. Additionally, Surjewala alleged that China had committed 2264 transgressions on Indian territory since 2015. 

Read: India And China Agree To 'complete Disengagement At LAC' As Chinese Troops Pullback

Read: NSA Ajit Doval Held 2-hour Call With China's Foreign Min; De-escalation 'progress' At LAC

Nadda slams Rahul Gandhi

Earlier in the day, JP Nadda pointed out that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had not attended a single meeting of the Standing Committee on Defence during the 17th Lok Sabha. The committee, which has met 11 times since 2019, comprises 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 members from the Rajya Sabha. They have to examine bills pertaining to the Ministry of Defence and other defence-related issues.

The BJP president lamented that Gandhi, on the other hand, continued to question the valour of the Armed Forces pertaining to the LAC faceoff with China. The former Congress president has repeatedly criticised the Modi government's handling of the situation along the LAC, making unverified claims such as Indian soldiers being sent to fight without weapons and the Chinese troops occupying Indian territory. Accusing him of not behaving as a responsible opposition leader, Nadda taunted that Gandhi belonged to a tradition where "commissions" matter more than committees. Furthermore, he contended that the Gandhi dynasty would not provide opportunities to deserving Congress members.

Read: Congress Nominated Him So Why Doesn't Rahul Gandhi Attend Defence Committee Meetings?: BJP