Told by Modi to keep quiet on Pulwama secuirty lapses, says ex J&K Guv; Cong seeks answers

Congress on Saturday sought answers from the BJP government over the sensational claims by former Governor Satyapal Malik that Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him to keep quiet when he pointed out lapses that led to 2019 Pulwama terror strike as well as his claims on Adani Group.

Referring to Malik's allegation that Modi could have links with Adani, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "to whom does Rs 20,000 crore (investment in Adani Group companies) belong - why is the Prime Minister so afraid of answering this question?"

Calling Malik's remarks "serious allegations", party General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh told a press conference, the BJP's principle is all about "Minimum Government, Maximum Silence" as seen on questions on China, black money and Adani Group. "They should either take action against Malik or respond to his allegations," he said.

The BJP rubbished the allegations with BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said that "before Congress minions get all excited about Satyapal Malik, their newfound knight in the shining armour, here is what he had to say about Rahul Gandhi" and tweeted a video in which the former Jammu and Kashmir Governor made comments against the former Congress chief.

Also Read | Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel targets Centre over Satyapal Malik's claims on Pulwama attack

Malik "admits to lying and making up baseless stories on what Home Minister Amit Shah had said about Prime Minister Modi…No one took him seriously even when he made these allegations back then. But it raises serious questions on his credibility”, Malviya tweeted.

In an interview Karan Thapar for website The Wire, Malik claimed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) did not approve the request for five planes to airlift the personnel and that if it was allowed, personnel would not have been martyred while questioning "grave intelligence failure" of how a car with 300 kg of RDX managed to sneak into the valley.

"...He said all of these lapses were raised by him directly when Modi called him from outside Corbett Park shortly after the Pulwama attack. He said the prime minister told him to keep quiet about this and not tell anyone. Separately, Malik said that NSA Ajit Doval also told him to keep quiet and not talk about it. Malik said he immediately realised that the intention was to put the blame on Pakistan and derive electoral benefit for the government and the BJP," The Wire said.

Congress Media Department Chairman Pawan Khera said the allegations were raised not by a BJP IT Cell troll but a Governor who served four states and a man of standing. "When Malik spoke about corruption, he was transferred out of Goa," he said.

While certain news anchors, actors and filmmakers have been given “XYZ security", he said Malik has been given only one personal security officer and is living in a rented house in Delhi, despite the fact that he could be in danger as he oversaw the dilution of Article 370.

Congress Social Media and Digital Platforms Chairperson Supriya Shrinate said when the news came out about Pulwama attack, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who was to hold her first press conference in Lucknow after taking over as General Secretary cancelled it while Rahul Gandhi too cancelled a meeting.

"However, Amit Shah held a rally two hours after the attack while Prime Minister Modi was shooting Bear Grylls' Man vs Wild," she said.

Shrinate said the government needs to answer why the CRPF personnel were not allowed to travel by air and why the Jaish-e-Mohammed threats were ignored.

"Why were the intelligence inputs, between 2 January, 2019 and 13 February, 2019 Which had warned of a terrorist attack ignored? How did the militants procure such a huge stash of RDX? After a period of over 4 years, where has the inquiry in the Pulwama terror attack reached? What were the responsibilities fixed for NSA Ajit Doval and the then Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh? After such a big terror attack, why was the governor asked by Prime Minister Modi to ‘keep quiet? People distributing certificates of treason need to answer, whether this is treason or not?" she said.