"No one could stop him speaking in favour of country: Baijayant Panda takes indirect dig at Congress over Tharoor

New Delhi [India], July 28 (ANI): Referring to Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, BJP leader Baijayant Panda on Monday took an indirect dig at the Congress party, stating that many of their leaders speak well if they are given a free hand.

Panda said that Shashi Tharoor speaks well, but his leadership doesnt allow him to speak on behalf of his party. However, he expressed his happiness that no one could stop Tharoor from speaking in favour of the country.

It would have been fun if you (Congress) had given a free hand. Many of your leaders speak really well. My friend Shashi Tharoor speaks really well, but his leadership does not allow him to speak on behalf of the party. But I felt really good that no one could stop him from speaking in favour of the country..., he said while addressing the Lok Sabha during discussion on Operation Sindoor.

Meanwhile, ahead of the discussion in the Lok Sabha on Operation Sindoor on the sixth day of the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor hinted that he was unlikely to speak in the debate today.

Maunvrat, maunvrat, Tharoor told reporters, smilingly after being asked about today being an important day given the 16-hour-long discussion scheduled on Operation Sindoor.

Earlier, BJP MP Baijayant Panda hailed Operation Mahadev launched by Indian security forces, which eliminated three terrorists and said that at least one of the neutralised terrorists was involved in the Pahalgam terror attack.

Three terrorists were killed in an intense firefight with security forces in the Harwan area near Dachigam National Park of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army said on Monday.

As we were debating this issue today, some of us must have seen in the news that an Operation Mahadev is being conducted in Jammu and Kashmir targeted at terrorists and it appears that at least one of those eliminated today was involved in the Pahalgam attack, Baijayant Panda said.

Highlighting the 26/11 Mumbai attack, 2005 Delhi serial blast and 2006 Varanasi terror attack, Baijayant Panda said that the Pakistani-sponsored terrorists were attacking India and killed Indians.

He stated that the previous government never retaliated to Pakistan attack and in incase the armed forces planned an operation, permission for it was not given to them.

If we look at the new normal that I have been talking about, it is important to understand what the past was. In the past, on a regular basis, almost on a daily basis, Pakistani-sponsored terrorists were attacking India and killing Indians. 2005 Delhi serial blasts, a dossier was sent to Pakistan. 2006 Varanasi bombings, India raised the issue in Indo-Pak talks, Panda said.

The Mumbai attacks in 2008, when so many people were killed, and the then government decided not to retaliate. The retaliation was planned by our armed forces, but the then government did not permit retaliation, he added.

The BJP MP criticised the previous UPA government stating that the then Foreign Secretary and NSA decided not to hit back at Pakistan and seven months following the 26/11 attacks, former Indian PM Manmohan Singh went on to meet Pakistani PM at the sidelines of the SCO summit in Russia.

It is on record that the then senior-most officials of the government, whether it was the Foreign Secretary, the then NSA, took a decision not to hit back at Pakistan. Seven months after the Mumbai attacks, the then Prime Minister met the Pakistani President on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Russia and decided that India and Pakistan would continue dialogue. Our governments of the day, over decades kept appeasing them, putting no pressure on them to stop their terror funding, he said. (ANI)

Disclaimer: This news article is a direct feed from ANI and has not been edited by the News Nation team. The news agency is solely responsible for its content.