Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday referred to an unpublished memoir by former Army chief General M.M. Naravane to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi avoided taking responsibility during the 2020 India-China military standoff and left key decisions to the Army leadership.
Speaking to reporters inside the Parliament House complex, Gandhi displayed a copy of what he described as Naravane’s unreleased memoir and said the public, particularly young Indians, should be aware of its existence despite the government’s denial.
“The Speaker has said this book does not exist, the government has said it does not exist, the Defence Minister has said it does not exist. But this book exists, and every youngster in the country should see it,” Gandhi said.
According to the Congress leader, the memoir provides a detailed account of events during the Ladakh crisis.
He said he had been informed that he could not quote from the book in the Lok Sabha.
Citing passages from the memoir while addressing reporters, Gandhi said that when Chinese tanks reportedly moved towards the Kailash range, then Army chief General Naravane sought guidance from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
He claimed that Naravane initially did not receive a response and subsequently reached out to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
Gandhi further alleged that when Singh later responded, he said the matter would be referred “to the top”, and that there was an instruction not to open fire on Chinese forces without political clearance, despite the Army’s assessment that the tanks had entered Indian territory.
According to Gandhi, the memoir records that the Prime Minister’s message to the Army leadership was “jo uchit samjho woh karo” (do what you think is appropriate), which he said amounted to passing responsibility down the chain of command.
The Congress leader also said the former Army chief wrote that he felt isolated and unsupported by the political establishment during the crisis.
“This is precisely what they do not want me to say in Parliament,” Gandhi remarked.
Gandhi further said he intended to present a copy of the book to the Prime Minister if he attended the Lok Sabha.
In a later post in Hindi on X, he reiterated that the memoir was authored by a former Army chief and not by any opposition leader or foreign writer, and questioned why references to it were being disallowed.
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He alleged that the account suggests the Army chief was made to wait for political direction at a critical moment and that responsibility was ultimately deflected.
“In the gravest situation for national security, political accountability was avoided,” Gandhi said.
The controversy has intensified the ongoing standoff between the government and the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
On Tuesday, eight MPs — seven from the Congress and one from the CPI(M) — were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session for what the Chair described as unruly conduct during protests over the issue.
Gandhi has also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, objecting to being prevented from speaking on what he termed a matter of national security.
He said it was unprecedented for a Leader of Opposition to be barred from participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.
