Rahul Gandhi calls Digvijaya demand for proof of surgical strike 'ridiculous'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on January 24 chose to differ with senior party colleague Digvijaya Singh over demand for proof of surgical strike against Pakistan.

“We don’t appreciate Mr Digvijaya’s personal views. But the views of the party are above Mr Digvijaya’s views. I would like to assure you (that) Mr Digvijaya’s views are outline views. They are not views that are held by the centre of the party. We are absolutely crystal clear that the armed forces do a job and they do not need to provide proof for anything,” Gandhi said at a press conference in Jammu.

He said that it is the culture of the Congress party to allow conversations and sometimes when those conversations happen, people who have extreme views air their personal opinions.

“We think a conversation is very important and sometimes there are people who will ridiculous things. In this case, I am sorry to have said this about a senior leader who said a ridiculous thing,” Gandhi said.

Responding to a question why action was not taken against Singh, he said, “We are a democratic party and we are not a dictatorship. We don’t run our party with the principles of cohesion.”

Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh stirred a controversy on January 23 after he questioned the 2016 Balakot surgical strike. He said that there was no proof with the government to authenticate its claim. “The government claims that a surgical strike was carried against Pakistan, but it didn't show any proof. They only spread lies,” he told a public meeting in Jammu.

He also raised questions on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The Congress was quick to distance itself from his statement after BJP leaders said Singh was echoing Pakistan’s narrative.

“The views expressed by senior leader Digvijaya Singh are his own and do not reflect the position of Congress. Surgical strikes were carried out before 2014 by the UPA government. Congress has supported and will continue to support all military actions that are in the national interest,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had tweeted.