BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has publicly questioned Rahul Gandhi regarding his 2018 Kailash Mansarovar trip, demanding details about alleged meetings with Chinese ministers and the transparency of the Congress leader’s interactions with China.
BJP MP Questions Rahul Gandhi’s 2018 Pilgrimage
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey has raised questions over Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s 2018 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. In a post on X, Dubey questioned as to when no “Indian MP gets Permission to visit Kailash Mansarovar” then how come a Congress leader was granted one.
“Questions 1. Mr. Rahul Gandhi, when you went on the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in 2018, which two Chinese ministers did you meet? 2. After the 2008 agreement between @INCIndia and the Communist Party of China, which 200 people have you sent to China under the exchange program by 2018? What are their names and addresses?” Dubey asked.
Allegations of Chinese Interactions
BJP MP further questioned, “Who facilitated his meetings with two Chinese ministers? Which Chinese ministers did he meet, and where did these meetings take place? What exactly was discussed during these interactions?” He also questioned whether the Ministry of External Affairs was taken into the loop by the Congress leader for the trip.
“Was the Ministry of External Affairs or the Indian Embassy in China informed about these meetings? Why did Rahul Gandhi initially maintain that his visit was purely personal and religious, while subsequently acknowledging meetings with Chinese ministers?” Dubey asked.
Calls for Transparency and Accountability
Recalling Rahul Gandhi’s remarks made in 2019 during a townhall meet in Bhubaneswar over meeting with two Chinese ministers over “job creation”, Dubey said such admission assumes significance “because the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier clarified, in June 2018, that it had received no formal request from Rahul Gandhi for his visit to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, either through the government-organised route or the private route.”
Dubey said India-China relations involve sensitive strategic, diplomatic and national security considerations. “Therefore, any interaction between prominent Indian political leaders and Chinese government representatives deserves legitimate public scrutiny.” BJP MP said the country deserves clear answers. “Transparency on engagements with foreign governments is not a political issue; it is a matter of accountability and national interest,” he concluded.
Rahul Gandhi, who was then Congress president, was on a 12-day trip to Kailash Mansarovar on August 31, 2018, via Nepal. Gandhi expressed contentment on his trip to Kailash Mansarovar and said that “a man goes to Kailash when it calls him”.
“The waters of lake Mansarovar are so gentle, tranquil and calm. They give everything and lose nothing. Anyone can drink from them. There is no hatred here. This is why we worship these waters in India,” Gandhi wrote. Since then, his trip has been questioned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the latter demanding an explanation from the Congress leader.
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