During the discussion on the motion of thanks on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha, an uproar started as soon as the speech of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi started. While mentioning important facts related to Doklam and China in his speech, Rahul Gandhi cited the book of former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane. This sparked a heated debate in the House.
Reference to Chinese tanks in Doklam
Rahul Gandhi said that four Chinese tanks had reached Indian territory in Doklam, and they were only a few 100 meters away. He gave this information citing a magazine article and Naravane’s book (memoir). Rahul told the House, ‘Listen carefully to what I am reading, this will tell you who is a patriot and who is not.’
controversy over book
Rahul Gandhi claimed that this book is not being allowed to be published by the government and facts related to Doklam are being suppressed. He said that the government is preventing the truth from coming out. After this he mentioned the book of former Army Chief Naravane.
Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah’s intervention
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh immediately stood up on Rahul Gandhi’s statement and said that such serious allegations cannot be made without proof. He also said that the book which Rahul is quoting has not been published yet. After this, Home Minister Amit Shah and other members also intervened.
However, despite the objections, Rahul Gandhi stuck to his statement. Describing the book as ‘100 percent authentic’, he said that if the government is not allowing a book to be published, it simply means that the things written in it are true.
Speaker and rules reference
Speaker Om Birla insisted on keeping the book in the House. During Rahul Gandhi’s 46-minute long speech, he was interrupted on almost every line by Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Rajkishore Rijiju, Nishikant Dubey and the speaker and the rules were cited.
