NEW DELHI: A day after the Supreme Court rapped Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his alleged remarks on ‘Chinese occupation of Indian territories’, the INDIA bloc came together in support of Gandhi and termed the court’s observations “unwarranted”. The opposition parties, in a joint statement, asserted it is the democratic right and duty of political parties to question the government on matters of national interest.The statement, issued after a meeting of floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties on Monday, said it is the responsibility of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) to comment on issues concerning national interest. The meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, along with other opposition leaders.While staying the defamation proceedings against Gandhi over his alleged statement, the apex court on Monday said a “true Indian” would not make such a remark. In 2022, during Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi said China had occupied 2,000 sqkm of Indian land and the Red Army was ‘thrashing Indian forces in Arunachal’.INDIA bloc leaders unanimously agreed that the judge had made an extraordinary observation on the democratic rights of political parties, which they termed unwarranted, the statement said. “When a government fails so spectacularly to defend our borders, it is every citizen’s moral duty to hold it accountable,” the statement read.Speaking to the press at the Parliament complex, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra came to her brother’s defence, saying Rahul Gandhi has the “highest respect” for the Armed Forces. “With due respect to the honourable judges of Supreme Court, they do not decide who is a true Indian,” she asserted. It is the Opposition’s duty to raise national issues inside and outside Parliament, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi echoed. “The Supreme Court judge’s remark be considered an effort to limit the rights of political parties… extraordinary and unwarranted,” he said.
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