Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday described party leader Sandeep Dikshit’s comments likening Army Chief Bipin Rawat to a “goon on the street” as “absolutely wrong”, reported PTI. Gandhi said the Indian Army works for the country and there was no need for any political leader to criticise the army chief.
“Someone from the press told me today that a Congress leader has made comments about the Army chief. This is absolutely wrong,” he said, addressing a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee meeting in Bengaluru. The Congress has come under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party over Dikshit’s comments on the army chief. The BJP has demanded Dikshit’s expulsion from the party, and an apology from Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
“Nobody less than Sonia Gandhi should come out and apologise because it is the question of the Army’s morale,” Union Minister Sitharaman said. Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had also slammed Dikshit over his remarks and wrote on Twitter, “What’s wrong with Congress Party? How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as “Sadak Ka Gunda!!”.
Dikshit, the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, had on Sunday raised eyebrows by saying, “Ours is not a mafia army like the Pakistani army which makes statements like the goons on the street. It looks bad when our Army chief gives a statement like a ‘sadak ka goonda’”. He however withdrew his comments later, claiming he should have used appropriate language.
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