As Parliament discusses Operation Sindoor, the absence of two prominent Congress MPs – Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari – from the debate has prompted the BJP to launch a scathing attack on Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, for allegedly not allowing members of the global OP Sindoor delegations to speak in the House.
“It is clear that those MPs who were sent to foreign countries to represent the nation are not being allowed to speak in Parliament by the ‘Rahul Occupied Congress’,” BJP MP Anurag Thakur said on Tuesday.
The BJP leader said that Tharoor and Tewari were not allowed to speak as Congress fears they would tell the House how the world criticised the terror attack and stood with India.
“Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and such MPs are not allowed to speak. Are they not efficient enough? Do they not know how to speak? They experienced how India’s image has been elevated in the world under PM Modi’s leadership. Did Congress think that if their own MPs came and told that the countries of the world have criticised the terror attack and stood with India, then that would pinch ‘Rahul Occupied Congress’,” he remarked.
Thakur further accused the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress of indulging in politics on Operation Sindoor and accused the party of demeaning the armed forces.
“Because ‘Rahul Occupied Congress’ only wanted politics on Operation Sindoor. They wanted to demean the armed forces. Even after the clarifications by the Defence and the External Affairs ministers, their tone was the same. This shows with whom the Congress stands,” he added.
His remarks came after Congress benched Tharoor and Tewari during the Operation Sindoor debate. When Tharoor was asked about it, he gave a cryptic response: Maunvrat – a vow of silence.
Tewari also reacted to reports about why the party benched him and fellow MP Shashi Tharoor during the Lok Sabha discussions.
Sharing a news headline that said ‘Spoke in favour of govt’: Why Congress benched Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari during Operation Sindoor debate, Tewari responded by quoting a patriotic song from the 1970 film Purab Aur Pachhim: “Hai preet jahaan ki reet sada, main geet wahaan ke gaata hoon, Bharat ka rehne waala hoon, Bharat ki baat sunata hoon. Jai Hind.”
When asked to explain his tweet, the Congress leader told reporters outside Parliament: “There is a saying in English- ‘If you don’t understand my silences, you will never understand my words’.”