‘He has his reasons’: Shashi Tharoor sidesteps Rahul Gandhi’s ‘dead economy’ remark; raises trade concerns
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday refused to comment on Rahul Gandhi’s endorsement of US President Donald Trump’s remark calling the Indian economy “dead.” Tharoor said the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha may have had his “own reasons” for saying so, but stressed that maintaining economic ties with the US is vital for India. When asked about Rahul Gandhi’s statement, Tharoor said, “I don’t want to comment on what my party leader has said. He has his reasons for saying so. My concern is that our relationship with the US, as a strategic partnership and economic relationship, is important for us. We are exporting around 90 billion worth of goods to America. We can’t be in a position to lose that or have it diminish significantly.” He added, “We must wish our negotiators strength to get a fair deal for India. We should also be talking to other regions for exporting our goods. Then we could make up for some of what we might lose in the US. We have to support our negotiators.” — ANI (@ANI) Tharoor’s response came after Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday, agreed with Trump’s description of the Indian economy. Gandhi had said, “Yes, he is right. Everybody knows this except the prime minister and the finance minister. Everybody knows that the Indian economy is a dead economy. I am glad that President Trump has stated a fact. The entire world knows that the Indian economy is a dead economy. BJP has finished the economy to help Adani.” Trump had made the comment on Wednesday through his social media platform, Truth Social. In that post, he announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods and warned of additional penalties in response to India importing oil from Russia. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
‘Let departed rest in peace’: BJP slams Rahul Gandhi over Arun Jaitley ‘threatened’ him claim; Rijiju asks ‘how much can one lie?’
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has triggered a fresh row after claiming that former finance minister Arun Jaitley had “threatened” him for opposing the Modi government’s now-repealed farm laws. While speaking at the Congress-organised Annual Legal Conclave 2025, Rahul said, “I remember when I was fighting against the farm laws, Arun Jaitley was sent to threaten me. He said, ‘If you continue down this path, opposing the government and fighting us on the farm laws, we’ll have to take action against you.’ I replied, ‘I think you don’t know who you’re talking to. We’re Congress people, we’re not cowards. We never bend. The British couldn’t bend us.’” The BJP immediately dismissed the claim, pointing out that Jaitley passed away in August 2019—over a year before the farm laws were brought to Parliament. The party accused Rahul of “throwing baseless allegations” even at those who are no longer alive. ‘He was a staunch democrat’ Arun Jaitley’s son, Rohan Jaitley, led the attack against Rahul and said that it was not in his father’s nature to threaten anyone over an opposing view. Taking to X, Rohan said, “Rahul Gandhi now claims my late father, Arun Jaitley, threatened him over the farm laws. Let me remind him, my father passed away in 2019. The farm laws were introduced in 2020. More importantly, it was not in my father’s nature to threaten anyone over an opposing view. He was a staunch democrat and always believed in building consensus. If at all such a situation was to occur, as it often does in politics, he would invite free and open discussions to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to all. That was simply who he was and that remains his legacy today.” “I would appreciate Rahul Gandhi being mindful while speaking of those not with us. He attempted something similar with Manohar Parrikar ji, politicising his final days, which was in equally poor taste. Let the departed rest in peace,” he added. ‘How much one can lie?’ Reacting to the Congress leader’s claim, Union minister Kiren Rijiju wondered, “How much one can lie?” He pointed out that Jaitley died over a year before the three farm laws were introduced in Parliament. “Whole day I was thinking… how much one can lie? Late Arun Jaitley ji died on 24 August 2019! Three agriculture-related bills were introduced in Lok Sabha on 14th Sept 2020. How can late Arun Jaitley ji meet Shri Rahul Gandhi for farm laws when he is no more alive!!!!” Rijiju wrote on X. ‘Remarks against Jaitley despicable’ Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who succeeded Arun Jaitley in the Union Cabinet after his demise, also attacked Rahul and said that throwing baseless allegations at people is becoming a personality trait in the Congress leader. “If irresponsibility has a face, it is Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in LS. To throw baseless allegations at people in public life, even those who are no longer with us, is becoming a personality trait in him. His remarks on late Shri Arun Jaitley are despicable. India needs a strong opposition party. An irresponsible leadership hurts his party, Congress, and the country. But does he care?” Sitharaman said. “This is a blatant lie—what he (Rahul Gandhi) has said about such a respected leader who was finance minister and is no longer among us,” she added. ‘Rahul only hurts his own credibility’ Meanwhile, SAD MP Naresh Gujral, whose party broke the alliance with BJP over the farm bills, said that Rahul Gandhi is damaging his own reputation with such remarks and advised him to be more careful in future. “I am truly shocked and very pained to hear about what Mr Gandhi has to say about my late dear and close friend Arun Jaitley ji. The whole world knows that he was a true democrat. Everybody knows he was a gentleman who would never use this kind of threat or this kind of dialogue. When Mr Gandhi says things like that, he only hurts his own credibility,” Gujral said. “I have worked with Mr Jaitley for almost 20 years. You would recall that the Akali Dal was part of the NDA, and we left the government on the issue of the farm laws. No BJP leader ever threatened us, forget about Arun Jaitley, who was a thorough gentleman. So when the Leader of the Opposition speaks like this, he only damages his own credibility. I would urge him to be more careful in the future,” he added. ‘Shredded all standards of decorum in public life’ Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also accused Rahul of “shredding all standards of decorum in public life” “Rahul Gandhi has utterly shredded all standards of decorum in public life. The former Union Minister and senior leader, the late Arun Jaitley ji, is no longer among us. Yet, Rahul Gandhi’s immature and childish, hateful mindset has insensitively spread falsehoods in the name of the late Arun Jaitley ji to further his own agenda, disregarding the facts related to the agricultural laws. The agricultural laws were introduced in Parliament in 2020, while Jaitley ji’s tragic passing occurred in August 2019,” Pradhan said. “Rahul Gandhi’s opportunistic, hateful, and baseless rhetoric has once again proven that Congress members have no connection with sentiments like empathy; their so-called ‘shop of love’ is filled only with ‘hateful words’. Rahul Gandhi’s language is miles away from that of a dignified person; he seems to have forgotten how to speak or conduct himself on a public platform! For this shameful and deplorable language, Rahul Gandhi should immediately apologise to Jaitley ji, his family, and his supporters,” he added. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
‘Farm laws introduced in 2020’: Arun Jaitley’s son reacts to Rahul Gandhi’s accusations of his father
— rohanjaitley (@rohanjaitley) NEW DELHI: Arun Jaitley’s son, Rohan Jaitley, on Saturday rebutted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the late Finance Minister had been sent to “threaten” him for opposing the Modi government’s now-repealed farm laws. Speaking at the Congress-organised Annual Legal Conclave 2025, Gandhi recalled a tense exchange, saying, “I remember when I was fighting against the farm laws, Arun Jaitley was sent to threaten me. He said, ‘If you continue down this path, opposing the government and fighting us on the farm laws, we’ll have to take action against you.’ I replied, ‘I think you don’t know who you’re talking to. We’re Congress people, we’re not cowards. We never bend. The British couldn’t bend us.’” Gandhi’s remark quickly drew a sharp rebuttal from Jaitley’s son, Rohan Jaitley, who accused the Congress MP of misrepresenting facts and politicising the memory of the deceased. “Rahul Gandhi now claims my late father, Arun Jaitley, threatened him over the farm laws. Let me remind him, my father passed away in 2019. The farm laws were introduced in 2020,” Rohan Jaitley said in a statement. — rohanjaitley (@rohanjaitley) Calling the claim factually incorrect and in poor taste, Rohan further added, “More importantly, it was not in my father’s nature to threaten anyone over an opposing view. He was a staunch democrat and always believed in building consensus.” He described his father’s approach to politics as one that welcomed open discussion rather than confrontation. “If at all such a situation was to occur, as it often does in politics, he would invite free and open discussions to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to all. That was simply who he was and that remains his legacy today.” Rohan Jaitley also urged Gandhi to exercise caution while speaking about deceased public figures. “I would appreciate Rahul Gandhi being mindful while speaking of those not with us,” he said, recalling a previous instance where Gandhi had allegedly politicised the final days of former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. “He attempted something similar with Manohar Parrikar ji, politicising his final days, which was in equally poor taste. Let the departed rest in peace,” he added. Gandhi’s broader speech at the conclave included allegations of voter fraud in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, criticism of the Election Commission of India, and remarks about constitutional decline under the current government. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
Rajnath slams Rahul’s ‘atom bomb’ claim: Calls past allegations ‘damp squib’; defends EC’s integrity
NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his claim of possessing “atom bomb of evidence” that would allegedly expose the election commission’s malpractice of “vote theft” in Bihar, according to the news agency PTI. Singh was addressing a function in Patna, where he referred to the upcoming Bihar polls as one at a crossroad, “with one path (under NDA) leading to further progress and another (under the INDIA bloc) taking Bihar back to its old era of lawlessness and caste strife”. “Rahul Gandhi says he is in possession of an atom bomb. If it is so, he should detonate it at once. He should just ensure that he is himself out of harm’s way”, the defence minister added. The former BJP president went on to say the country hasn’t forgotten earlier claims of the leader of opposition, all of which turned out to be nothing but letdown. “He had threatened Parliament of an earthquake, but when he spoke, it turned out to be a damp squib,” the BJP leader said, as quoted by the news agency. The veteran leader reaffirmed the trust in the election commission, saying the commission’s institutional integrity is widely respected, and it is working to make the upcoming elections free and fair. “It is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the upcoming assembly polls in the state are held in a free and fair manner. It does not behove the Leader of the Opposition to make frivolous statements about a constitutional body,” Singh said. The union minister also called out Gandhi for Congress’s history saying, “his own party has blood on its hands, having tried to murder democracy in 1975 with the imposition of Emergency”. He also praised alliance partner Nitish Kumar for playing a key role in transforming the state during his 20-year tenure in Bihar. “Under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, Bihar is no longer seen as a basket case. Even an internationally reputed magazine like The Economist, which had once condemned the state as the armpit of India, is now taking note of its turnaround”, said Singh, quoted PTI. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
‘Desh ka raja kaisa ho, Rahul Gandhi jaisa ho’ slogans at Congress conclave. Here’s how he reacted – video
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was greeted with an unexpected chant at the party’s high-profile Legal Conclave in New Delhi on Saturday: “Desh ka raja kaisa ho, Rahul Gandhi jaisa ho.” But the Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha was quick to shut it down. As Rahul took the stage to speak at the event titled “Constitutional Challenges: Perspectives and Pathways”, party workers broke into chants of “Desh ka raja kaisa ho, Rahul Gandhi jaisa ho” (“What kind of king should the country have? One like Rahul Gandhi!”). In response, Rahul said, “Nahi… Nahi… Main raja nahi hoon. Raja banna bhi nahi chahta hoon. Main raja ke concept ke against hoon.” (“No, no… I am not a king. I do not want to become a king. I am against the concept of kingship.”) — PTI_News (@PTI_News) The Congress leader used the platform to launch a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were “rigged” and that India’s electoral system is “already dead”. “The truth is that the election system in India is already dead. The Prime Minister of India holds office with a very slim majority. If 15 seats were rigged—and we suspect that the number is over 70 to 80—he would not have been the Prime Minister of India,” Rahul claimed. He also alleged that the Congress had undertaken a six-month investigation which revealed large-scale electoral fraud. Citing one Assembly seat in Karnataka, the congress leader claimed that out of 6.5 lakh voters, 1.5 lakh were “fake”. “You will see the shockwave that is going to go through the electoral system when we release this data. It is literally like an atom bomb,” he said. Rahul further alleged that the ECI has been “obliterated and taken over”. “We have such proof that will show the whole country that the institution of the Election Commission does not exist. It has disappeared,” he said. Reiterating that he had suspected electoral wrongdoing since 2014, the LoP recalled the BJP’s sweeping wins in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, where Congress failed to win even a single seat. He cited the case of Maharashtra, where he said one crore new voters appeared in the run-up to the Assembly elections—most of whom backed the BJP. He concluded by asserting, “I say with absolutely no doubt that we have proof. And whoever I have shown it to has fallen off the chair. They literally said how can it be possible. But it is possible. It’s happening. Literally.” The conclave was hosted by the AICC’s Department of Law, Human Rights and RTI. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
Operation Sindoor debate: BJP claims ‘Indira Gandhi sought US help to end 1971 war’; hits back at Rahul Gandhi’s ‘political will’ remark
NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday launched a sharp counterattack in the Lok Sabha against leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the Modi government’s handling of Operation Sindoor. Citing historical records, BJP MPs Anurag Thakur and Nishikant Dubey alleged that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had sought US intervention to halt the 1971 India-Pakistan war — a move they claimed undercut India’s battlefield advantage. This political flashpoint erupted a day after Rahul Gandhi, in his speech in the Lok Sabha, accused the government of lacking political will and imposing restrictions on the armed forces during the May 7 cross-border strikes launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Comparing Operation Sindoor with the 1971 war, Gandhi said Indira Gandhi gave the military full freedom, even as the US Seventh Fleet approached Indian waters. Responding during Zero Hour, Anurag Thakur said, “If you dig a little deeper in history, the layers start unravelling. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had written to US President Nixon. It appears as though a supplicant was pleading before the US president.” Thakur read out from a letter dated December 5, 1971, in which Indira Gandhi asked Nixon to persuade Pakistan to desist from aggression. Thakur added, “The nation has to decide whether the government of that day was iron or an irony.” He accused the Congress of distorting history and questioned whether Indira Gandhi lacked trust in India’s armed forces. “This family is adept at bending and begging the US to ask Pakistan to end the war,” he said, drawing protests from Congress benches. Echoing Thakur’s claims, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said, “This is a letter dated 5 December 1971, which Indira Gandhi wrote to the President of America, Richard Nixon. She wrote that our government is in danger, and India wants a ceasefire; you convince Pakistan. Such a big surrender, such a big lie.” Dubey claimed that despite India having captured 93,000 Pakistani soldiers, the war ended with a sudden ceasefire. “The entire history of 1971 is contained in this one letter. When people thought we could take Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, a ceasefire happened. After looking at this history, don’t you think the Congress controlled the entire media?” he said. — ANI (@ANI) He further alleged that Congress misrepresented the events of 1971 to elevate its leadership’s image, saying, “India Gandhi surrendered in 1971.” The BJP’s attack came after Rahul Gandhi’s remarks questioning the Modi government’s strategic messaging and military decisions during Operation Sindoor. Gandhi had stated, “Yesterday, Rajnath Singh compared 1971 and Sindoor. I’d remind him — there was political will in 1971. The Seventh Fleet was approaching, and the PM said do whatever is needed. Indira Gandhi told General Manekshaw: take six months, one year — you must have freedom of action. One lakh Pakistani soldiers surrendered and a new country was formed.” Rahul Gandhi also raised questions over instructions given to the Indian Air Force during the May 7 operation, alleging that pilots were told not to target Pakistani air defence systems. “IAF made no mistake. The mistake was made by the political leadership, which said military targets could not be attacked,” he said, citing statements by Captain Shiv Kumar, Defence Attaché to Indonesia, and CDS General Anil Chauhan. Slamming the government’s post-operation messaging, Rahul Gandhi said, “The Government of India informed Pakistan we don’t want to fight. We have simply carried out this action.” He also referred to US President Donald Trump’s multiple statements claiming he brokered the ceasefire. “If he’s lying, then let PM Modi stand here and say: ‘Donald Trump, you are a liar.’ If he has the courage of Indira Gandhi, let him say it here in Parliament,” Rahul Gandhi said. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
‘India paying price for Modi’s friendship’: Congress on Trump imposing 25% tariff; claims ‘foreign policy has failed’
NEW DELHI: The Congress party lashed out at the BJP-led central government minutes after US president Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India, saying the “country is now bearing the cost of Narendra Modi’s ‘friendship’”. The party said Trump imposed tariffs on India despite PM Modi campaigning for the US Presdient. The BJP’s rival party was referring to the “Howdy, Modi!” event held in Texas in September 2019. “Trump slapped a 25% tariff on India, along with a penalty. The country is now bearing the cost of Narendra Modi’s ‘friendship’. Modi campaigned for Trump, hugged him eagerly, posed for photos, and made it trend on social media. In the end, Trump still imposed tariffs on India. India’s foreign policy has completely failed,” the party said. — INCIndia (@INCIndia) Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh quipped at PM Modi over his ‘Howdy Modi’ event, saying the gesture “meant little”. “President Trump has slapped a tariff of 25% plus penalty on imports from India. All that taarif between him and Howdy Modi has meant little,” Jairam Ramesh said. The Rajya Sabha member claimed PM Modi thought that “if he kept quiet on the insults that the US President has hurled on India”, the nation “would get special treatment at the hands of President Trump. Clearly that has NOT happened”. “Mr. Modi thought that if he kept quiet on the insults that the US President has hurled on India — the 30 claims of stopping Op Sindoor, the special lunch for the Pakistan Army Chief whose inflammatory remarks provided the immediate backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks, and US support for financial packages to Pakistan from the IMF and the World Bank — India would get special treatment at the hands of President Trump. Clearly that has NOT happened,” Jairam Ramesh said. — Jairam_Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) Trump on Wednesday announced that India will have to pay 25 per cent tariff from August 1. Trump also said that India will have to pay an additional penalty for buying energy and arms from Russia. The 25% tariff rate announced for India is 1% less than the 26% declared by Trump in his April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ conference. “Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!” he said. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
Rahul Gandhi to lead Aug 5 protest in Bengaluru over vote theft
Bengaluru: Congress MP and former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi will visit Bengaluru on Aug 5 and lead a rally to protest alleged electoral malpractices and reveal “the modus operandi of vote theft” based on a deep-dive investigation into a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka. Later that day, a delegation led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, chief minister Siddaramaiah, and his deputy D K Shivakumar, will submit a memorandum to the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Karnataka. Responding to the charges, Karnataka’s CEO, V Anbukumar, said, “Electoral rolls are prepared transparently, and no formal appeals were received.” Following a party meeting Tuesday, Shivakumar said, “Rahul Gandhi has voiced concerns against irregularities in elections. He had said that such things took place in Karnataka too, so he will come and give a representation to Election Commission officials and expose the modus operandi.” Rahul’s tentative schedule includes an address to party workers at Freedom Park before heading to the CEO’s office. However, home minister G Parameshwara said, “There will not be a procession.” This is due to a 2022 high court order banning processions and protests in the city’s central business district. Shivakumar revealed KPCC’s research team conducted an extensive study “on how votes were manipulated”. “The team has given [Rahul] a lot of information,” Shivakumar said. “My leader himself will reveal all. It’s not just about Bihar or any one place — the real question is how votes have been misused. There were a lot of complaints about vote theft, even during assembly elections. We have also carried out a major investigation across the state, focusing on a few constituencies. I won’t go into the details right now — my leader will explain everything to you.” On July 23, Rahul had launched a direct attack on the Election Commission, alleging: “In Karnataka, we found ‘bhayankar chori’ (massive theft). I will show it in black and white to you and the EC. We have it in black and white in Karnataka. They know that we have understood their game. We picked one constituency and did a deep dive. Problem is that they give a voters list on paper and the paper list cannot be analysed. We took the full voters list of one constituency. We put it in digital format. It took six months, but we have uncovered their whole system and how they do it, who votes and from where new voters are brought.” He had also alleged: “The EC is not doing its job. We have concrete, 100% proof of the poll panel allowing cheating in a seat in Karnataka… We have caught them.” Supporting the allegations, chief minister Siddaramaiah accused BJP of illegally manipulating the electoral process in Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat “through sudden and suspicious additions of new voters” and arbitrary deletions. Shivakumar, referring to Bangalore Rural, said: “A lot of golmaal had been done.” Sources say Congress has evidence that some voters from Bangalore Central also cast ballots in a neighbouring state. “We have documents to show names of voters belonging to a particular community were selectively dropped from electoral rolls,” a senior party functionary said. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
Indira ‘literally begged’ Nixon to intervene in ’71 Pak war: BJP
NEW DELHI: BJP Lok Sabha members on Wednesday raised questions over the conduct of former PM Indira Gandhi during the 1971 war with Pakistan, claiming she had “literally begged” then US President Richard Nixon’s to intervene. In a letter to Speaker Om Birla, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused LoP Rahul Gandhi of using “distorted and inaccurate facts”, a day after the Congress neta said if PM Modi had “even 50% courage of Indira”, then he must announce that US President Trump is a liar and did not force the Operation Sindoor “ceasefire”. Raising the issue in zero hour in LS, BJP member Anurag Thakur said Indian soldiers won the 1971 war but “someone else” was declared the “Iron Lady”. He claimed the war was won on the battlefield but lost at the negotiation table. While Thakur flagged Indira’s letter to Nixon on Dec 5, 1971, in the House, Dubey attached a copy of it in his letter to Birla. Thakur read out the letter, wherein Indira urged Nixon to persuade Pakistan to desist forthwith from the policy of wanton aggression and military adventurism. “The nation has to decide whether the govt of that day was ‘iron or an irony’,” he said, amid protests from Congress members. Urging Birla to reprimand Rahul for his “habitual delinquency” and highlighting the letter to Nixon, Dubey said, “She had literally begged before him to use his influence to stop the war with Pakistan.” Rahul has once again “unabashedly betrayed” public trust by twisting well-documented historical facts, which has become his “habit to glorify his family”, Dubey said. Thakur wondered whether Indira did not trust the armed forces and chose to plead with the US to halt the war. “Why did she approach the US?” he asked. Putting up inaccurate facts is a straight case of violation of speaker’s directions, Dubey said and alleged Rahul has an “uncanny habit of making false claims”. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.
Operation Sindoor debate: ‘Why is he scared?’ Congress revives Trump charge moments after PM Modi junks it
NEW DELHI: Less than half an hour after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that “no global leader interfered in Operation Sindoor,” the Congress launched a fresh attack, accusing him of being afraid to confront US President Donald Trump. Congress MP KC Venugopal asked bluntly, “We are asking very clearly whether Trump’s claim is bogus or not, whether he is telling truth or not. No answer… Why is he scared about talking about Trump?” He accused the Prime Minister of hiding behind Pakistan rhetoric instead of addressing serious questions about India’s sovereignty and military decision-making. “When genuine questions are asked by the opposition, he hides behind the Pakistan story,” Venugopal said. Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi echoed this line, claiming the Prime Minister “never said it clearly that Trump was lying” and accused him of failing to name China despite its alleged support to Pakistan. “The whole nation knows that China helped Pakistan in every way, but the Prime Minister and Defence Minister never named China anywhere in their speeches,” Gandhi said. — ANI (@ANI) Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera added a poetic jab: “Trump slapped (him), but he’s upset with Nehru. Hope he realises in time, that Donald is no friend, but unfaithful.” — Pawankhera (@Pawankhera) Earlier, Gandhi had demanded a clear rebuttal to Trump’s repeated assertion that he mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. “If Modi ji has even 50 per cent of the courage that Indira Gandhi had, then clearly he must say in Parliament Donald Trump is lying,” Gandhi said. He criticised the government for informing Pakistan mid-operation that India had only hit non-military targets and didn’t seek escalation. “That’s surrender. Immediate surrender in 30 minutes,” he said, citing Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s own words in the House. PM Modi lashes out at Congress During his address in the Lok Sabha, PM Modi on Tuesday told the Lok Sabha that “no global leader had asked India to halt Operation Sindoor” “India received global support, but the Congress could not support our soldiers’ valour,” he said, criticising the opposition during the debate on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor. “No country stopped India from defending itself against terrorism—only three countries backed Pakistan at the UN. PM Modi also dismissed questions raised over US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire. He clarified that on the night of May 9, “US Vice President (JD Vance) tried to reach out to me 3–4 times, but I was busy with meetings with the armed forces.” When he finally returned the call, Vance warned of a possible Pakistani attack. “I told him that if Pakistan attacks India, our response would be much bigger—we will respond to bullets with cannons.” He declared that Pakistani airbases hit during the operation were “still in ICU” and said the masterminds of the April 22 attack had “sleepless nights.” Emphasising India’s strength, Modi said, “We destroyed terror sites deep inside Pakistan within 22 minutes… drones and missiles made in India exposed Pakistani arms.” He accused Congress of echoing Pakistani propaganda and giving the enemy a “clean chit.” Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https://timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights.