Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for leaving a meeting of the permanent parliamentary defense committee, saying Gandhi himself remains absent and then blames the government and leaves the meeting in protest. . Javadekar further said that the standing committee “is not a protest site.”
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“Rahul Gandhi attended 2 of the 14 meetings of the parliamentary permanent defense committee in the last year and a half. He himself is absent and then blames the government and all procedures and withdraws from the meeting in protest. The standing committee is not a site for protests, ”the ANI news agency quoted Javadekar as saying on Thursday, a day after Gandhi left the committee meeting.
“Being absent, not discussing your desired discussion agenda and then making hints of not discussing important issues is an insult to all parliamentary procedures and constitutional institutions. We condemn this attitude, ”said Javadekar.
On Wednesday, Gandhi, along with his colleagues, left the meeting after he was not allowed to speak during a discussion about the uniforms and ranks of the armed forces. According to people familiar with the events, the former president of Congress had felt that it was better to leave these matters to the forces themselves to discuss and suggested that the panel focus on “more substantive issues.” About this, people said, the head of the committee, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) deputy Jual Oram, told Gandhi to stick to the day’s agenda, which was “an introduction to rank, the structure of the defense forces, including their uniforms, stars and insignia, and review of the operation of the cantonment boards ”.
Present at the meeting were the Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, the Deputy Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini, and the Secretary of Defense Ajay Kumar.
The Gandhi issue “did not attend” defense committee meetings was also criticized by the BJP earlier this year for its repeated criticism of the government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for his handling of ongoing tensions with China. in eastern Ladakh.
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