Parrikar embarrassment to nation, doesn't deserve to be Defence Minister: Cong

In the ongoing battle over the credit for surgical strikes, the Congress on Monday fired yet another salvo at Union Minister Manohar Parrikar and said that the latter is an embarrassment to the nation and is unworthy of being the Defence Minister of India.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-NDA government does not speak when it is supposed to but is quick enough to raise hands for claiming credits.

"The problem is that where the government has to speak it is keeping silent. And the Goa declaration of BRICS is perhaps the most sterling example of the government's absolute and abject failure. Despite all the rhetoric and the laser sharp discords on terror and isolating Pakistan what you have is one sundry remark. One little generic remark in almost a 20 paragraph Goa declaration and what does it say, "We strongly condemn the recent several attacks against some BRICS countries including that in India." I read the statement for the second time, we have an attack in Uri, we lose security personnel and the government is not even able to convince its interlocutors that it was a terrorist strike," said Tewari.

"Even the word terror does not find mention in this condemnation. And to the best of my knowledge or our knowledge there is no other country, no other BRICS country which is subjected to cross border terrorism. While there is a mention of everything from the ISIS to Syria, to Afghanistan, to the Israel and Palestinian question, where is the reference to Pakistan in the entire Goa declaration? But the Defence Minister is very quick to credit everyone from the mythology to the RSS for the operations along the LoC. This leads to two inescapable conclusions, number one: Manohar Parrikar does not deserve to be the Defence Minister of India, this man is a national embarrassment; number two: that the operation along the LoC were unfortunately targeted more domestic consumption rather than changing the behaviour of the deep state in Pakistan," he added.

Speaking at an event in Ahmedabad, the Defence Minister gave credit of the surgical strikes to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) teachings.

"I wonder that a Prime Minister from land of Mahatma Gandhi and a Defence Minister from Goa and surgical strikes, the situation was quite. maybe the RSS teachings were there, but this was very different kind of combination," he said.