'PM didn't fulfill his responsibility': Rahul displays unpublished memoir of ex-Army chief Naravane outside Parliament

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday displayed excerpts from an unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane and accused PM Modi of “not fulfulling responsibility” during the 2020 India-China military clashes in Ladakh.Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament the Congress leader said, “The speaker is saying that this book does not exist, Rajnath ji has said this book does not exist. This is Naravane ji's book wherein he has written the account of Ladakh...Narendra Modi ji did not fulfil his responsibility.” “He told the Army Chief to do whatever he wants to do. Army Chief General Naravane has clearly written in this book that he felt really alone. This is what they are scared of me saying,” he added."The main line is what the Prime Minister said - 'jo uchit samjho wo karo'. When the former Chief of Army Staff General Naravane called up Rajnath Singh ji and said that Chinese tanks have reached the Kailash Ridge, so what should we do? First, Rajnath Singh did not respond to him," he added."I don't think the Prime Minister will have the guts to come to the Lok Sabha today because if he comes, I am going to give him this book. If the PM comes, I will go physically and hand him this book so he can read it and the country can get to know the truth," added Gandhi.Gandhi said the memoir of Naravane is published abroad, but the government is not allowing it to be published in India. "It's available abroad, I think. It's published abroad. Govt is not allowing it to be published here. That's what I believe...The book is available...You can imagine where the book (that he is carrying today) has come from. You think about where it came from..." His remarks came after he tried to quote excerpts from the unpublished book during the Parliament session on Monday. Gandhi insisted on raising the issue of India-China confrontation of August 2020 and was interrupted repeatedly by defence minister Rajnath Singh and later home minister Amit Shah, who asked him not to quote from any unverified source. Naravane was the Army Chief at the time of the Ladakh confrontation. The excerpts cited by Rahul Gandhi were recently published by an online portal.Earlier, on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, registering his "strongest protest" over being denied the opportunity to speak on the President's address during the ongoing Budget session.He described the restriction as a "blot on our democracy" and alleged that the government is “scared” of what is written in the book.