'Rahul Gandhi behaving like Pakistan and China, Mamata should be in jail for taking away evidence': Giriraj Singh

'Did Rahul Gandhi NGO receive Chinese money so that he could insult the Indian army and the country inside and outside Parliament,' Singh asked.

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh has launched a blistering attack on Rahul Gandhi, accusing the Congress leader of behaving like "Pakistan and China" over the LoP's attempts to quote from former Army General Naravane's memoir in Lok Sabha.

Singh also took on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying she should be put in jail for allegedly taking away evidence of a money laundering case from the I-PAC premises in Kolkata recently.

In an interview with PTI Videos, Singh raised questions on Gandhi's insistence on speaking on the India-China border issue in the Lok Sabha, saying it's probably for the first time in parliamentary history when a member has refused to follow the Speaker's ruling.

"Did his (Rahul Gandhi) NGO receive Chinese money so that he could insult the Indian army and the country inside and outside Parliament?" Singh said.

The Union minister said that the House functions according to rules, laws and order, and the Speaker is also bound by the law. "This is probably the first time in parliamentary history that, despite being given instructions five times, he (Rahul Gandhi) did not comply. He is not a fool," Singh said.

Singh said that the discussion was on the President's address, and he was talking about demoralising the country's army.

He is behaving like "Pakistan and China," Singh said, taking a dig at the LoP, adding he (Rahul Gandhi) should explain about his visit to the Chinese embassy.

The Union Minister said that if Rahul wanted to have a discussion, he should have raised it through a different topic on another day, and that too within the bounds of decorum.

"I ask, if he wanted to have a discussion, it should start from when the last war between China and India over the border dispute took place. And when the 1962 war happened, how many thousands of acres of land were given away?" The Union minister claimed that former Army General Naravane himself had said in 2021 that not an inch of land had been lost.

A row erupted in Lok Sabha on Monday when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to quote from a "memoir" of former Army chief M M Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict, but faced strong opposition from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other BJP members who accused the Congress leader of misleading the House, resulting in uproar and adjournment of proceedings for the day.

On West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's allegations, Singh said, "It is like stealing, and doing it with audacity. During SIR, she made 98-99 per cent of government officials TMC workers. The EC has the liberty to make any official the observer, but she (Mamata) made them party workers." Referring to ED's raids at the I-PAC office and the premises of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata in connection with an alleged coal pilferage scam in January, Singh said, "ED raids somebody, and she runs away with the evidence, she should be locked in jail, she has understood that she will be losing, and that is why she is doing the drama." Wearing black shawls as a mark of protest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with some "SIR-affected" families and party leaders, met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar here on Monday. Banerjee walked out of the meeting with the CEC, accusing him of being "arrogant" and alleging that the poll panel had "humiliated" their delegation.

About the upcoming election in four states, Singh claimed victory for the BJP-led NDA in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Union minister said that the people of Kerala are now admitting their mistake, and a BJP mayor has been elected there.

Targeting the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, Singh claimed that Hindus are being persecuted in Tamil Nadu, and 12,000 temples have been locked. He added that a harmonious society cannot be imagined there without a BJP government.