Pathankot City
A day after Congress leader Manish Tewari raked up a row by claiming that a 2012 media report on troop movement towards Delhi when Gen V K Singh was the Army chief was “unfortunate but true”, Congress snubbed the former Union minister, saying it was not an informed remark as he was not a part of any decision-making body at that time.
In a strong rebuttal, party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said Tewari is “neither the authorised spokesperson nor was he a part of the Cabinet Committee on Security. It was not right for him to comment on such issues”.
Tewari’s comment on Saturday saw a rare convergence between Congress and BJP with V K Singh, who is now a minister in the Modi government, calling the Congress leader “jobless”. “He has no work these days. He should be asked to read my book which reveals everything (on the issue),” Singh said.
Even after Congress pulled him up and VK Singh and other BJP leaders slammed his remark, Tewari on Sunday defended his claim.
“Whatever I said yesterday (Saturday), I have nothing more to add or subtract to that,” Tewari said.
“I am again clarifying there is absolutely no truth in it (claims about troop movement in 2012). My colleague was neither a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security, nor any relevant decision making body,” said Singhvi, adding some troop movements are necessary, “inbuilt and inevitable part of the defence mechanism”.
Congress warned Tewari against commenting on issues he is not authorized to speak. “I wish to reiterate that and wish to request and advice on behalf of Congress that such remarks and observations in respect to which he is neither the authorized spokesperson of the party nor the spokesperson on foreign and defence affairs, nor privy to any of the relevant committee or decision-making body should have been and should be in the future completely avoided,” Singhvi said.
Questioning the timing of Tewari’s remarks, BJP demanded a statement from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ex-defence minister A K Antony on the issue.
“Tewari is raking up the issue wherein their own government had denied that there was any coup movement. His now raising this issue throws up many questions which must be answered by the Congress,” party general secretary Siddhartha Nath Singh said. The timing is certainly politically “suspect,” he said adding, “We have seen in past that Congress has tried to demoralise the armed forces by raising questions on national security.”
Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Army had already denied in 2012 that any such thing had happened. He also deprecated Tewari’s action of speaking about what transpired in a Parliamentary committee meeting. “I have been the I&B minister before and after him (Tewari). There is an unwritten rule of parliamentary etiquette. You don’t disclose what is talked about inside a parliamentary committee,” he said.
BJP leader Satpal Maharaj, who then headed the Standing Committee on defence said, “We were told that such army movements keep happening. You know that army keeps shifting from one place to other.”
Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was also on the panel, said, “I don’t know from where he (Tewari) got this dream. The army had already clarified about it and the matter was over at that time itself.” He added that discussions of parliamentary committees should not be brought into the public domain.
Tewari’s remark came as an embarrassment to Congress which had rejected the media report when the
However, Congress functionary Mani Shankar Aiyar backed Tewari’s claim. “It appears, something did happen that night which was against the Constitution and democracy,” he said, demanding resignation of V K Singh.
CPM politburo member Brinda Karat said, “The question remains that the then government had at that time totally denied it. So, if there was a truth in it, why it was denied then? So, they are also answerable to the country.”
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