NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday upped the ante against Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, accusing them of letting the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government become a “puppet in the hands of foreign powers.” While addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia latched on to former Union minister P Chidambaram and Manish Tewari “revelations” and claimed the Manmohan Singh’s government – influenced by Sonia Gandhi – chose not to take strong retaliatory action after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.”The people of India are asking questions — questions to the Congress Party and to the fake Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi. We have also seen that the leader of the opposition, who has been abroad for the past four days, has only one mission — to defame India, a nation that is moving forward on the path of rapid development. From foreign soil, Rahul Gandhi levels baseless allegations and tries to malign our great nation. Therefore, from the soil of India, we want to ask questions — to the Congress Party, to Mallikarjun Kharge ji, to Rahul Gandhi ji, and to Sonia Gandhi ji — and demand answers before the people of India,” Bhatia said.”It is a matter of grave concern that senior Congress leaders like P Chidambaram, who served as Home minister under the UPA government, and Manish Tewari, a former UPA minister, have recently made revelations that are shocking and alarming. It shows that a government which was constitutionally responsible for protecting India’s sovereignty had, in fact, become a puppet in the hands of foreign powers,” he added.Bhatia also alleged that Sonia had Monmohan Singh’s remote control while “foreign powers” had the remote control for Sonia Gandhi.Additionally, BJP MP Sambit Patra also attacked Sonia Gandhi and alleged that UPA government used to decide cabinet ministers after consulting with America, quoting Natwar Singh’s autobiography.”It was Sonia Gandhi’s dictation that don’t act against Pakistan. She made India bow down and gave shelter to Pakistan,” Patra said.Natwar Singh wrote in his autobiography that the Sonia Gandhi government used to decide the Indian Cabinet Ministers after consulting America… She believes ‘saugandh mujhe us videsh ki, main desh nahi uthne dungi’…,” he added.He also questioned Chidambaram’s recent statement about foreign pressure behind India’s lack of retaliation against Pakistan after 26/11 attacks, suggesting that Chidambaram himself was part of the decision-making process under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership.”Only because the ‘whole world descended on Delhi’, the Congress party decided not to take any action against Pakistan. This was the India of that time, under the reign of the Gandhi family… This decision must have been taken by Sonia Gandhi unlawfully and unconstitutionally, and she must have dictated to Manmohan Singh and then Home Minister Chidambaram…,” Patra told ANI.This comes days after Chidambaram after the former Union home minister recounted that he was inclined towards retaliatory action against Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks but was ultimately persuaded against it.Chidambaram had said that the decision making process of Manmohan Singh-led government’s stance was shaped by international diplomatic pressure , particularly from the United States.”It did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution. I did discuss it with the Prime Minister and other people who mattered. The PM had discussed this matter when the attack was going on, I can surmise. And the conclusion was largely influenced by the MEA and the IFS that we should not physically react to the situation, but we should employ diplomatic means,” he said.”The conclusion was reached amid pressure from the world that was descending upon Delhi to tell us that don’t start a war,” he said.He specifically mentioned that then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had travelled to New Delhi to meet him and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging India not to retaliate militarily.The 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, carried out by Pakistani-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed over 170 lives and left the nation in shock.Later, P Chidambaram expressed frustration over being misquoted by the media regarding his comments and said “In no part of the interview to Megha Prasad’s podcast did I say that ‘US stopped us from retaliating after the 26/11 attack. Yet, channel after channel and the media and the Twitterati are merrily attributing words to me. These are the perils of talking to the media!” Go to Source
