Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was not present during 80 per cent meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence in the 18th Lok Sabha, according to Parliament records.
Gandhi is a member of the Committee on Defence. According to News18, some of these meetings saw "extremely serious discussions". On November 21 last year, Oral Evidence by the representatives of the Ministry of Defence for Examination of Demands for Grants (2024-25) on ‘General Defence Budget’ was recorded. Gandhi was also missing on the day capital outlay on defence services and procurement policy was discussed.
He was also missing in the meeting held on January 9 this year to get a briefing from the representatives of the Ministry of Defence so the members can review the working of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in creating infrastructure in strategic locations and border areas.
On February 18, Defence Ministry personnel briefed on Defence Public Sector Undertakings like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, Goa Shipyard Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited, BEML Limited, Hindustan Shipyard Limited, and Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination and Services), among others. Gandhi was not present at this meeting as well, according to News18.
The same meeting also discussed defence pensions. Gandhi while criticising the Agnipath scheme had spoken at length on pensions. “A normal jawan will be entitled to pension for all his life… but those with Agniveer tag will not get pension…which means money has been snatched from Agniveer’s pocket…," Gandhi had alleged in Haryana’s Ambala during a political rally.
On April 28 this year, there was a meeting to listen to oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Defence on their review of resettlement policies, healthcare facilities and avenues for ex-servicemen.
Did Gandhi attend any meeting?
According to the News18 report, he did attend the meeting on February 17, 2025, and October 15, 2024.
On February 17, oral evidence of the Defence Ministry representative was presented on General Defence Budget, Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and Ministry of Defence (Civil), Capital Outlay on Defence Services, Procurement Policy and Defence Planning, Army, Air Force, Navy, Joint Staff, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE), Border Roads Organization (BRO). But since October 15, 2024, the first sitting of the committee, there was hardly anything substantial done apart from chalking out the plan for the committee.
Gandhi has been vocal about defence-related issues. He demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s explanation after US President Donald Trump made a remark about five jets being downed during Operation Sindoor and also held an anti-Rafale campaign ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
What does BJP say?
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala called him the “Pinocchio of Indian politics", highlighting the contradictions in his statements.
“Right from HAL to LIC, to SBI to Rafale—he keeps lying. He keeps making immature statements that aren’t founded in facts, and he targets Indian institutions. He tried to block the procurements of Rafale by making unfounded allegations, lied about the SC and was fact-checked by it. He lied about India losing territory to China in Ladakh and was fact-checked by the armed forces. Now, it is evident he does not do so out of any genuine concern because he does not attend the Defence Parliamentary Committee meetings. Rahul Gandhi is bound by the Chinese MoU that his family has signed with the Chinese leadership," Poonawala told News18.
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