Bengaluru: AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday called out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for skipping the all-party meeting convened to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack.
"The PM's attitude is not proper. You (Modi) go to Bihar to make an election speech but you don't attend the meeting being held in Delhi. It shows he is not serious about the incident," Kharge told reporters. He said leaders of all parties including himself and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were present at the meeting except the Prime Minister.
"The first thing we told them (the Government) is that it is a meeting convened by the PM and he himself is not present... Such a serious incident has happened and 26 people have been killed. It shows he is not serious," Kharge said. He also took a swipe at Modi for speaking in English at the rally. "Instead of speaking in Hindi and English, you should have spoken to us and informed us as to what and how it happened....And also if it was a security lapse or intelligence lapse...or a lapse on the part of informants. But he did not come (to the meeting)," Kharge added.
Kharge claimed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who chaired the meeting, admitted to security lapses at Pahalgam and said the government would ensure such incidents are not repeated in future. "Whatever has happened has happened. But at least in the future we should not let this happen. I told Shah to take up this as a challenge," he said.
He said that the Congress will extend full support to whatever action the Government takes keeping the country's interest in mind. With regard to the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, Kharge asked the Government where it would store the water. "If you decide to withhold water, where will you store it? Do we have such dams?," he asked.
