New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack at the government over the Pahalgam terror attack and accused it of tying the hands of the Indian Armed forces, which he claimed was the reason for ‘tactical losses’ during the Operation Sindoor.

Joining the Op Sindoor debate in Lok Sabha, the Congress MP said that the government lacked political will in punishing the Pahalgam perpetrators, teaching the enemy a lesson and also went to drew a comparison with the 1971 war, when the then government bifurcated Pakistan into two parts.

“Yesterday, the Defence Minister compared the 1971 war with Operation Sindoor. I must add that this government’s resolve stands nowhere close to the then Congress leadership.”

LoP Rahul Gandhi stated that political will and freedom of operation are the two most important components for winning any battle, and this government utterly lacks that courage.

Citing instances of Indira Gandhi’s government’s political will, he said that when General Manekshaw demanded it six times, she gave that freedom, and the operation concluded only after dividing Pakistan into two parts.

He further accused the government of agreeing to a ‘ceasefire’, just minutes after the armed forces vaporised the terror bases in Pakistan, stating that if this was not the testament of weak political will, then what was it?

“I was surprised to hear Rajnath Singh reveal that the Operation Sindoor began at 1.05 AM in the morning, ended in 22 minutes and then at 1.35 AM, the Indian government told the Pakistani counterpart that we have hit non-military targets and don’t want any escalation,” LoP Rahul Gandhi said in the House.

The Congress leader also referred to senior armed forces officers’ admission of losses during Operation Sindoor and pinned the blame on the government for setbacks, including the downing of jets, as reported in the media.

“Capt Shiv Kumar, Defence Attache in Indonesia, said that we did lose some aircraft and that happened only because of the constraints set by political leadership to not attack the military targets and installations,” he said and also referred to the acceptance of tactical losses by CDS Anil Chauhan.

Sharpening his pitch, LoP Rahul Gandhi praised the Armed Forces but held the government responsible for the ‘losses and setbacks’ during the operation.

Launching a frontal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he challenged him to call out the US President’s lies on forcing a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and also claimed that the Operation Sindoor was executed to bolster his image, in a wave of ghastly terror attacks in Pahalgam.

“The US president has taken credit for the truce for the 29th time. If the Prime Minister has the courage, as that of Indira Gandhi, he must declare in the House that Trump is a liar,” said the Congress leader.

–IANS

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