A day after the Supreme Court of India pulled up Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his China remarks, his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday defended him, saying it is the job of the Opposition Leader to ask questions and challenge the government.
When asked about the Supreme Court’s remark that ‘a true Indian won’t make such statements’, Priyanka said, “With all due respect to the judiciary, it is not for them to determine who is a true Indian and who is not. The judges will not decide that.”
“Rahul Gandhi has always respected the army and our soldiers. The LoP’s responsibility to question the government, and that is what he does. The government does not like it, and they do not want to answer him; that is why they resort to all these tactics,” she told reporters outside the Parliament.
Who will give the definition of true Indian, asks Congress
Congress MP KC Venugopal said that when we ask questions in Parliament there is no answer and when they ask something outside the Parliament, we are termed anti-national.
“Who will give the definition of ‘true Indian’?” Venugopal said, adding, “We are the true Indians who are raising questions for India”.
What did the Supreme Court say?
Hearing a petition filed by Rahul Gandhi against an Allahabad High Court order upholding a Lucknow court summons issued to him in connection with a criminal defamation case, the Supreme Court on Monday strongly admonished the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that “Chinese soldiers are beating up Indian Army personnel”.
The top court said that, being the LoP, he should speak in Parliament and not on social media.
“Why in a social media post and not in Parliament?” the Bench asked senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was representing Rahul Gandhi.
The court also asked the Leader of the Opposition what credible material was behind his claim that China has acquired 2000 sq km of Indian land.
“How do you get to know when 2000 sq km was acquired by China? What is the credible material? A true Indian will not say this. When there is a conflict across a border, can you say all this? Why can’t you ask the question in Parliament?” the bench further questioned the Congress leader.