A day after Congress leader Manish Tewari said that the April 2012 report published by The Indian Express on army units moving towards Delhi was “unfortunate, but true”, other party leaders gave contrasting reactions to it.
Party spokesperson PC Chacko said on Sunday that Congress does not support Tewari's claims, The Times of India reported. "On behalf of the Congress, we want to clearly and categorically deny this report. There was no such troop movement without information of the government," he said. However, senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar backed Tewari's claim, saying, "It appears something did happen that night which was against the Constitution and democracy."
After being questioned about the report at a book launch on Saturday, Tewari said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence he was part of was briefed on the daily’s story, during which the Defence Ministry had maintained the government’s official stand. However, Tewari said that officials involved in the briefing had told him the report “may just be true”. He declined to elaborate on the matter, citing breach of parliamentary privilege.
According to the report, the Congress-led central government was notified that two key military units were unexpectedly moving towards the national capital without any notification. The movements of both military units were reportedly halted and sent back to their stations following the intervention of the then defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma.
The army had maintained that the troop movements were part of a routine exercise. The Defence Ministry had then called the report baseless. Army chief General VK Singh, now retired, had denied the report.
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