New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday dismissed senior party leader Manish Tewari's claim on 2012 troop movement report and stuck to its stand that report was "not true". Under fire from his party, Tewari was also slammed by Union Minister VK Singh who called him "jobless".
Tewari has stirred a controversy by his remark that The Indian Express report was true that two key Army units had moved towards Delhi without notifying the government over three years ago.
In a bid to undo the damage done by Tewari, Congress spokesperson PC Chacko said, "I think that there is no reason for Mr Tewari to believe that it is true. Congress party denies this report. I think this is an unnecessary controversy being created."
Backing Chacko, another party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Whatever Manish Tewari has said is not true. He is not the official spokesperson of the party. He should not have done this and this is the stand of the party. My colleague (Manish Tewari) was neither a member of the cabinet committee on security nor any of relevant decision making body to make such comments."
But the Congress seemed to be divided on the issue as party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has said that VK Singh's actions as Army chief were undemocratic and he should be sacked from the Narendra Modi government.
"As far as it seems something has happened against our Constitution and democracy, and such a man is made a Minister today. There can't be a bigger mistake than that. I think it was a wrong move to make him the Army chief back then," said Aiyar.
Tewari, who was a member of the Standing Committee on Defence under UPA II, has said that after the report surfaced, a Defence ministry briefing was held asking officials to maintain the government's stand.
"It's unfortunate but yes the story was true. I was serving on the Standing Committee of defence. What appeared in The Indian Express at that point of time was unfortunately for this country was correct," Tewari has said.
Not missing any opportunity to hit out at Tewari, Singh called him 'jobless'. "Manish Tewari doesn't have any work. I have written a book and would ask him to read it. Everything would be clarified then."
Questioning Tewari's silence on the issue for over three years, BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said, "I have read the story and my only question is why was Manish quiet for all these years and that too when his own government was denying any such incident."
On April 4, 2012 The Indian Express had reported that on January 16, 2012, central intelligence agencies reported an unexpected (and non-notified) movement by a key military unit, from the mechanised infantry based in Hisar (Haryana) as a part of the 33rd Armoured Division in the direction of Delhi. A large element of the airborne 50 Para Brigade based at Agra was also observed moving towards Delhi around that time.
The movement of the troops was reported on the day former Army Chief and General VK Singh had approached the Supreme Court over the retirement age row.
Following the admission, former editor-in-chief of The Indian Express Shekhar Gupta said their stand remains vindicated. "The story was confirmed by then DGMO. Former UPA ministers including Manmohan Singh should speak on this issue. There should be a robust debate on this topic."
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