Tensions boiled over in India’s lower house of Parliament when Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition, raised the contentious Doklam border incursion by China. During thanks motion on the President’s speech, his intervention prompted immediate backlash from ruling BJP benches, including sharp rebuttals from Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah. The Speaker had no choice but to suspend the session amid the pandemonium.
Speaking to reporters later, Gandhi lamented the curtailment of democratic discourse. ‘They’re not letting me speak,’ he said emphatically. ‘This concerns our nation’s defenses, straight from the ex-Army Chief’s account in conversations with the PM and Defense Minister. I seek only to relay those facts in Parliament.’
He pressed the government on their apparent trepidation. ‘Leaders shouldn’t dodge decisions or offload them onto others—that’s precisely what PM Modi did, as per the Army Chief’s book, now mysteriously withheld from publication.’
Gandhi dissected the revelations: political directives that disappointed the forces during critical standoffs. ‘We must learn from this—not just about Modi and Singh, but how leadership failed our troops.’ Referencing Naravane’s writings, he mocked the fear of exposure regarding China’s advances and the response—or lack thereof—from the top.
Priyanka Gandhi joined the fray, promising to quote the damning passage herself. ‘It’s from a published magazine excerpt, fully verifiable. What’s the government hiding?’
This episode highlights persistent friction over national security narratives, with the opposition leveraging military insights to challenge the ruling dispensation’s handling of border threats. Parliament’s dysfunction raises alarms about substantive dialogue on existential challenges.