Lashing out at the Congress for demeaning Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to a “street thug”, the Centre on Monday said party chief Sonia Gandhi should issue an apology and clarify its stand on remarks against the Indian Army.
“It shocks us. It did not come from a somebody from Congress, but from a very eminent Congress leader,” Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the media.
Accusing the Congress of “consistently questioning the integrity of the Indian Army to shame and demoralise them,” she said, “I wonder if this is a strategy of the Congress to undermine the Indian Army, weaken our institutions. ‘Sadak ka gunda?’ Is that a language a senior politician uses against our Army Chief? Sonia Gandhi should disown their leadership which is going on insulting Indian Army, is not what the Congress wants and should apologise. The Congress should clarify its stand on remarks against the Indian Army.”
Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat defended Sandeep Dikshit’s comment and said, “Army Chief Rawat’s statements result in controversy, as (his) statements itself are objectionable,” Karat said. She added that the Army chief is undermining the status of his position.
Distancing the Congress from former party MP Sandeep Dikshit’s controversial remarks against Bipin Rawat, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi said: “No politician should make comments against the Army chief.”
On Sunday, Dikshit said the army chief shouldn’t make statements like a ‘sadak ka gunda‘ referring to his recent statements. Dikshit’s comments have backfired on him and seems to have hurt the party as well. Both faced massive criticism and abuse on social media. Dikshit had to withdraw his comments and tender an apology while the Congress dissociated itself from Dikshit’s remark.
“We advised Sandeep Dikshit to desist from making any controversial remarks on Army Chief as Indian National Congress doesn’t support such remarks,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
However, Sandeep Dikshit on Monday tendered an apology for the second time, saying shouldn’t have used “uncivilised” words to convey his message.
“I thought Indian Army chiefs normally don’t make these statements and they have a different manner in which they approach. However, this was a separate issue. If I had to say something of this kind, there was a different language and manner in which I should have said it. It doesn’t make any sense to use words that are not correct and civil and I apologise for that,” said Dikshit.
