The BJP on Monday attacked the Congress over its leader Sandeep Dikshit terming the Army chief a ‘sadak ka goonda’ and demanded an apology which the Congress leader tendered by way of a tweet after he drew flak from all quarters.
The Congress had shown a “consistent pattern” in undermining democratic institutions and it was shocking that its leader had now targeted the Army, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a Press conference.
Dikshit tendered an apology, saying he had reservations about Army chief Bipin Rawat’s comments but should have chosen appropriate words. “I genuinely believe what I said was wrong. So I apologise for it and withdraw my statement,” Dikshit said.
A controversy broke out after Diskhit asserted that General Rawat shouldn’t make statements like a ‘sadak ka goonda’ (a road-side goon).
“There is no sense of apology in his tweets. No less than Congress president Sonia Gandhi should come out and apologise,” Sitharaman said.
Describing Dikshit, a former lok Sabha MP, an eminent leader and well-known face, she said the Congress should disown him for trying to shame and demoralise the Army.
Recalling the 2008 Batla House encounter in which a Delhi Police officer was also killed, she said Congress leaders had then visited houses of killed terrorists. Congress functionaries had repeatedly made comments which targeted institutions, the Minister said.
The Congress leadership has allowed many of its leaders to go “haywire” and there is a pattern in it, she said. “It shocks me and my party.”
Even, when India lost a war, this kind of name calling did not happen, she said.
In Bangalore, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi termed Diskhit’s statement as “absolutely wrong”. “Someone from the press told me today that a Congress leader has made comments about the Army chief. This is absolutely wrong,” he said, addressing a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee meeting.
“People should not make any comments against the Army chief. I want to make it clear that the Indian Army works for us, it protects India. There is no need for any political leader to make comments against the Army chief,” he said.
The BJP, however, wasn’t satisfied. “Rahul’s statement that Army Chief shouldn’t be commented upon is inadequate compared to the magnitude of sin his party committed,” BJP spokesperson GVlN Rao said.