India-China border issue: Congress attacks Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his absence from the Lok Sabha as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke about the India-China border issue, saying that "he is frightened to face tough questions".

The Congress also walked out of the Lok Sabha after being denied permission to speak about support to the Indian Army following Rajnath Singh's statement.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: "Today, in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh was set to speak about Ladakh. For the Congress, the country is supreme. Our Army is our pride.

"Thus, when Rajnath Singh spoke on Ladakh and talked about a resolution, we demanded a minute to pay our respect to the armed forces. But we were not allowed to speak."

Chowdhury said that though there were many questions on the issue, the Congress knew that the Modi government was not ready to provide the answers.

Citing the parliamentary debate over the 1962 India-China war, the Congress leader said: "Then opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had demanded to know about the India-China war and sought a debate in Parliament. Then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ensured a debate was held for two days in Parliament." (IANS)

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