New Delhi, 4 Feb

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited former Army chief MM Naravane's 'unreleased memoir' to claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi shed responsibility during the India-China conflict in 2020 and passed the buck on to Naravane.

Addressing reporters in the premises of Parliament House complex, Gandhi held up Naravane's unreleased memoir and said he would like the youngsters in India to know that this 'book' exists despite the government claiming otherwise.

"The Speaker has said this book does not exist, the government has said it does not exist, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh ji has said this book does not exist. Every youngster in India should see that this book exists," Gandhi said.

He said Naravane has written the full account of what happened in Ladakh.

Gandhi said he had been told that he could not quote from this "memoir" in the Lok Sabha.

"The main line is what the PM said -- 'jo uchit samjho woh karo'. The Chief of Army Staff, Gen Naravane, called Rajnath Singh and said 'Chinese tanks have come on Kailash ridge, what should we do? Rajnath Singh did not reply to him at first. He (Naravane) asked S Jaishankar, NSA (Ajit Doval) and Rajnath Singh ji, but did not get a reply," the Congress leader said, citing the "memoir".

"He (Naravane) again called Rajnath Singh ji, who said, 'I will ask from the top'. There was a standing order from the top that if 'Chinese forces come in then do not fire on them without asking us'. Naravane ji and our army wanted to fire on those tanks because they had entered our territory," he said.

"Narendra Modi gave the message - 'jo uchit samjho woh karo'. Meaning he shed responsibility. 'Unhone army chief se kaha aapko jo karna hai karo meri bas ki nahi hai' (He told the army chief, you do whatever you want, it is beyond me)" Gandhi said, citing the memoir.

The former Congress chief further said the Army chief has written that he felt alone and was abandoned by the entire establishment.

"This is what they are scared of me saying in Parliament," Gandhi said.

"I don't think the PM will have the guts to come to the Lok Sabha today. If he comes, I am going to give him this book," he said.

Later, in a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "Today, if the Prime Minister comes to Parliament, I will present him with a book. This book is not by any opposition leader.

This book is not by any foreign author. This book is by the country’s former Army Chief, General Naravane – and the surprising thing is that, according to the Cabinet Ministers, this book does not even exist."

"This book clearly states that when the Chinese army had entered our border, in such a critical moment, the Army Chief was made to wait. And when the time came to take a decision, the Prime Minister simply said, “jo aapko uchit lage woh kijiye"," Gandhi said.

"In other words, in the most serious crisis for the country’s security, Modi ji evaded political responsibility," he said.

"The country is asking questions, and the government is running away from answering those questions," Gandhi added.

The government-opposition faceoff in the Lok Sabha intensified on Tuesday as eight protesting MPs were suspended for "unruly behaviour" after Gandhi was disallowed for the second day from quoting an article that cited the unpublished "memoir" of Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict.

The seven MPs from the Congress and one from the CPI (M) were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session, which ends on April 2, for trying to climb on the table of the secretary general, tearing papers and hurling them at the Chair.

Gandhi has also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, lodging his strong protest over being disallowed from speaking in the House on a matter of national security and terming it a "blot on our democracy". He has also said that it was for the first time in history that LoP was not allowed to speak on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.