The Bharatiya Janta Party has rebutted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s claim of a ‘war threat’ from China saying that this is not ‘Nehru’s India who lost 37,242 square km to China while sleeping’. BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore also accused Gandhi of demolarising the Indian military.
Rathore was reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s claim earlier on Friday that China is preparing for war and the Indian government is sleeping over it, reported NDTV.
"During his yatra, Rahul Gandhi has made comments about Indian security and border areas to spread confusion in the country and demoralise Indian soldiers. This is not the India of his great-grandfather Nehru, who lost 37,242 square km to China while sleeping," Rathore told a news conference in New Delhi, referring to the 1962 war between India and China.
He added that Rahul Gandhi should not make "irresponsible remarks about national security" in a bid to "re-launch" himself.
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Attacking Rahul Gandhi and taking a swipe at Pandit Nehru, he said, " After Rahul Gandhi's great-grandfather lost land to China, now he feels there should be proximity with China, and he has developed so much proximity with China that he knows what China will do."
"It was on the payrolls of the Communist Party of China. Congress party signed an agreement with the Communist Party of China," the former BJP minister said.
According to NDTV, Rathore claimed there were numerous Chinese transgressions during the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.
Earlier, speaking to journalists at a stopover during his Bharat Jodo Yatra earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that China is preparing for war and the Indian government is sleeping over it and ignoring the threat.
He said, "I can see the threat of China very clearly. I have been clear on this for the last two-three years, but the government is trying to hide it and ignore it. This threat can neither be hidden nor ignored. Going by their full offensive preparation that is on in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, the Indian government is asleep."
"The government does not want to hear this, but their (China's) preparation is on. The preparation is for war. It is not for the incursion, but for war. If you look at their weapon pattern, and what they are doing -- they are preparing for war. Our government hides this and is not able to accept it," the former Congress chief added.
He said this is all happening because the Narendra Modi-led government does "event-based work" and "does not work strategically".