BJP misled nation, Congress cites CDS remarks

After Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan today confirmed that India suffered losses in the air during the conflict with Pakistan, the Congress demanded a comprehensive review of national defence preparedness by an independent panel.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge led the demand with the principal opposition party renewing its call for a special session of Parliament to discuss issues arising out of Operation Sindoor.

Kharge said in the wake of remarks made by CDS Chauhan in Singapore, some very important questions need to be asked.

“These can only be asked if a special session of Parliament is immediately convened,” he said after the Congress officially fielded Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy to ask the government for a “truthful account of how many jets India lost”.

The Congress flagged the CDS’comments to say the NDA government had misled the nation and the fog of war was now clearing.

“The Congress demands a comprehensive review of our defence preparedness by an independent expert committee, on the lines of the Kargil Review Committee,” Kharge said.

While cornering the government, the Congress made it a point to say that it fully backed the armed forces.

“Our IAF pilots were risking their lives fighting the enemy. We have suffered some losses, but our pilots were safe. We salute their resolute courage and bravery. However, a comprehensive strategic review is the need of the hour,” Kharge said.

The Congress chief also mentioned US President Donald Trump’s ninth reiteration of the claim of brokering the India-Pakistan ceasefire and said this was a direct affront to the Simla Agreement.

“Instead of clarifying Donald Trump’s repeated assertions and the affidavit filed by the US Secretary of Commerce in the United States Court of International Trade about trade being one of the elements in the ceasefire, PM Modi is on an election blitz, taking personal credit for the valour of our armed forces, hiding behind their bravery and dodging the contours of the agreed ceasefire, which the Foreign Secretary announced on May 10 after the US President’s tweet,” said Kharge, demanding answers on whether India and Pakistan were again hyphenated?

The Congress said the country needs to know the conditions of the ceasefire agreement. Earlier, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh described as “extraordinary” the fact that the country had to hear of the downing of jets from the CDS in Singapore.

“It is a telling commentary on the undeclared emergency we have had for 11 years. The PM will not chair all-party meetings and will not take Parliament into confidence but the nation gets to know of the first phase of Operation Sindoor through the CDS’s interview in Singapore. Couldn’t Opposition leaders have been taken into confidence by the PM earlier?” asked Ramesh.

The Congress from the official platform where it fielded former IAF pilot Reddy said the country must realise that for some reason, the government was not upfront with whatever has happened.

“The matter for reassessment is that most of the firing in the four-day operation was done by respective countries from within their borders and yet we lost our aircraft.

I think this needs serious reassessment of technology so that lessons are learnt and we go forward and improve in those aspects,” Reddy said.