‘Not trying to defame the Army’: Priyanka Gandhi defends Rahul amid Lok Sabha standoff over Naravane memoir

File photo: Priyanka Gandhi with Rahul Gandhi (Picture credit: PTI)

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday defended her brother, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, saying he was not attempting to defame the Army but was merely quoting from a magazine article referring to excerpts from the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane. Speaking to news agency ANI, she said, “He was not trying to defame the Army. He was reading an excerpt from the book of the Army Chief. They [BJP] always say this whenever something comes out that they want to hide.”

The Lok Sabha witnessed repeated disruptions and was adjourned for the day amid a prolonged standoff over Gandhi’s insistence on speaking about the 2020 India-China border tensions while referring to the report citing Naravane’s memoir.

BJP members objected strongly, arguing Gandhi was speaking outside the rules of the House.The House, which was discussing the motion of thanks on the President’s Address, was adjourned first till 3 pm, then till 4 pm, and finally for the day. Speaker Om Birla ruled that Gandhi should not make references to the unpublished book or article, urging him to proceed without citing the material.Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accused Gandhi of trying to demoralise the armed forces. “Rahul Gandhi flouted rules and started quoting from a book whose publication and authenticity is not clearly mentioned…He started speaking on the China border…Can the Congress party bring back the landmass that was captured by China in 1959 and 1962? Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the nation,” Rijiju said. He added, “If someone is born in a known family, are they above the Parliament? Are they above the rules? India is a democratic nation and functions as per rules…Rahul Gandhi doesn’t follow any rules.”Defence minister Rajnath Singh also urged the Chair to prevent Gandhi from making such references. Government sources cited by news agency PTI claimed that Gandhi was reading “concocted things” on China and noted there was ample information in the public domain on the India-China standoff during Nehru’s tenure.Despite repeated warnings from Speaker Birla, Gandhi insisted on raising the matter of national security. “It is uncomfortable for the defence minister and the prime minister, I understand. I consider national security the most important issue. If it was not uncomfortable, they would have let me speak, but the fact they are not allowing me to speak shows that they are uncomfortable,” he said.Several opposition leaders, including TMC’s Mahua Moitra, RJD’s Manoj Jha, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, and Kalyan Banerjee, supported Gandhi in pressing the issue.