Congress roping ex-Army commander shows absence of own ideas in party: Swamy

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said Congress roping in Lt Gen (retd) DS Hooda for 'vision paper' on the country's security is a "testimony of absence of own ideas in the party".

"It only shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the Congress. It has ruled the country for the longest time (yet) doesn't have any ideas of its own. The Congress is only engaged in criticising the government rather than giving any solution to the country," Swamy told ANI.

"Now that the Congress workers have started asking questions from the leadership, hence the commander of surgical strikes is being approached for advice," he added.

Several opposition political parties including the Congress had demanded proof of surgical strikes from the Modi government. However, the Congress has now bestowed the responsibility of preparing the vision document on national security on former Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Hooda under whose planning and execution surgical strikes on terror launch pads on Pakistan occupied Kashmir were conducted in 2016.

Commenting on the issue, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also said that the Congress and its top leadership have always been dealing "irresponsibly" with issues concerning security of the country.

"Sonia Gandhi had shown an irresponsible attitude even during Kargil war and now Rahul Gandhi is taking the tradition forward. Congress also knows that all its words are hollow and hence, the hero of the surgical strikes is being brought to curtail their lies," Naqvi told ANI.

On Friday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that Lt Gen Hooda would educate the party leaders that the surgical strikes in 2016 were "a significant first for India".

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday set up the 'Task Force on National Security' to prepare a 'vision paper' for the country and it will be headed by Lt Gen Hooda.

He was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command when the surgical strikes were carried out on September 28, 2016. Nine days prior to the surgical strikes, terrorists had attacked Army camp in Uri in Kashmir.