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Rahul walks out over agenda for House defence panel meeting
Rahul Gandhi left the meeting minutes before it concluded as the panel chairman, BJP leader Jual Oram, denied a discussion on these issues as they were not part of the pre-decided agenda, the people added.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stormed out of a meeting of Parliament’s defence standing committee on Wednesday after his proposal to discuss the issue of national security, vis-a-vis Pakistan, the standoff with China, and the Taliban capturing fresh territories in Afghanistan, was rejected by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), people aware of the matter said.
He left the meeting minutes before it concluded as the panel chairman, BJP leader Jual Oram, denied a discussion on these issues as they were not part of the pre-decided agenda, the people added.
The defence committee had met to ”review the working of cantonment boards”. Other Congress MPs on the committee also walked out with Gandhi.
Gandhi stressed that rather than discussing the working of the boards, the panel should deliberate on more relevant and important security issues like the standoff with China in eastern Ladakh and the terror threats from Pakistan, the people said. Oram also reminded that MPs need to give prior notice to discuss subjects not listed in the agenda, they added.
Last December, the Congress leader left a meeting of the defence standing committee, alleging that the panel’s time was being wasted in discussing armed forces’ uniform instead of national security.
