'Nation Needs to Know the Truth': Why Congress Wants to Use China Issue to Take on Centre and PM

New Delhi: Just hours before the Congress Working Committee was to begin, the BJP released pictures of Rahul Gandhi signing a MoU with the Chinese Communist Party. BJP president JP Nadda in fact attacked Gandhi asking him to come clean on it. The strategy is clear. BJP seeks to discredit the Congress's high-pitched campaign against the government and PM on the China issue.

But its clear that Congress is in no mood to tone down. In fact moments before the CWC, Gandhi tweeted a picture of the Pangong lake, made famous in the movie '3 Idiots'. The picture was clicked by Gandhi's father Rajiv and the Congress former president wrote: "We stand in solidarity against China. Has china intruded into our territory?"

Inherent in this tweet is the repeated questioning by Gandhi and Congress to the government and PM over the China issue. Congress alleges that the government is hiding facts on the extent of Chinese intrusion.

The special Congress Working Committee headed by Sonia Gandhi met over several issues but the focus remained China. Sonia Gandhi said, "The PM was called out when when he announced that 'no one had intruded into the Indian territory in Ladakh'. There is a serious belief among people that the situation was mishandled by the government. Now, we have a full blown crisis on the LAC with China. The future is yet to unfold but we hope that mature diplomacy and decisive leadership will inform the government's actions in protecting our territorial integrity," Dr Manmohan Singh added "another instance is the crisis on the border which if not tackled firmly can lead to a serious situation. I also endorse Soniaji's remarks".

Apart from China, Sonia raised the issue of Covid-19 and rising fuel prices as well. And the fact that the economic stimulus package announced by the government was not sufficient.

At the CWC, Rahul Gandhi stuck to his line that the government wasn't revealing much of the actual picture. Gandhi made the point that India’s economic prowess earlier gave us a strong point as far as diplomatic relations are concerned. But both have now been compromised. Sources say Gandhi said, "Congress owes it to the country to tell the truth."

Gandhi's statement captures the essence of the party's strategy on the issue: Why congress wants to use the dragon to take on the government and PM.