Rahul Questions EAM Over Number of Aircrafts India Had Lost

New Delhi: The war of words between the Congress and the government escalated on Monday with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi once again questioning external affairs minister S. Jaishankar over his silence regarding the number of aircraft India had “lost” after Pakistan was “informed” about the military action under Operation Sindoor, which he said was “damning”.

“EAM Jaishankar's silence isn't just telling, it's damning. So I'll ask again: How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew?” Mr Gandhi asked in a post on X, “This wasn't a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth,” Mr Gandhi also said.

The Congress leader earlier shared an undated video clip of Mr Jaishankar and wrote: “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI (Government of India) did it.”

“Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our Air Force lose as a result,” the Congress leader asked.

Earlier on Saturday, responding to the tweets of Congress leaders, the external affairs ministry said: “External affairs minister had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being ‘before’ the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out.”

The BJP hit back, accusing Mr Gandhi of speaking the "language of Pakistan" and asking whether the Congress Party was truly serious about supporting the nation. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi attacked Mr Gandhi, saying he misquoted the MEA. “Rahul Gandhi seems to have learned nothing from his past mistakes. He continues to disrespect the nation's armed forces by questioning how many jets had been lost -- despite clear statements from the IAF and the MEA confirming there were no asset losses. He misquotes the MEA, even though the DGMO clarified in his May 11 briefing that India had made efforts to communicate with its counterparts. Is the Congress Party truly serious about supporting the nation? Their actions suggest otherwise,” Mr Joshi said in a post on X.

”He has been doubting the nation, the government, and also distrusting the Indian armed forces. Now, he is sounding like the propaganda in chief of Pakistan. Let alone the Leader of Opposition, our nation deserves a more responsible and patriotic parliamentarian than Rahul Gandhi. Pakistan is now parading Rahul Gandhi as a poster boy for Pakistan, and they are peddling Rahul Gandhi's tweets to spin and fabricate an inimical narrative to India and our Indian armed forces.” BJP spokesperson C.R. Kesavan said.

The Congress also rejected Union Minister Kiren Rijiju's reported assertion that the government did not ask for names for the all-party diplomatic teams going abroad. The Congress labelled the statement as “an äbsolute lie" and accused the government of engaging in "cheap politics".

AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh: “At no point of time, the Modi government did the Congress the courtesy of saying that, ‘look, these are the four names we have selected, what do you have to say about them’," he said.

The Congress had recommended four names for the delegation -- Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Nasir Hussain and Raja Brar -- to be part of the delegation. However, the BJP-led Central government chose only Anand Sharma from the recommended list and roped in Salman Khurshid, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Amar Singh from the Congress.

Mr Ramesh also accused the BJP and the Prime Minister of having played "cheap politics" on the issue. “His (Modi's) image has taken a beating, he is desperate in changing the narrative once again. Our demand is that a Prime Minister-chaired all-party meeting be held and a special session (of Parliament) be called to reiterate the resolution of February 1994 and give it fresh meaning, as well as take the nation into confidence," the Congress leader said.

He claimed that while India made gains through Operation Sindoor, diplomatically it had been hurt as the narrative changed. “We have to change the momentum for India. The Congress has always said unity and solidarity is very important. 'Ek Desh, Ek Sandesh' is very important to deal with terrorism," he said.

Taking a swipe at the BJP, he said, however, it was not "Ek Desh, Ek Sandesh" for "polarisation and the poison-filled nationalism that the BJP propagates".

Meanwhile, Trinamul Congress MP Yusuf Pathan, who was amongst the all-party delegation, declined to participate as his name was included "without consulting the party". Speaking on the topic, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said: “The government never informed us about the delegation visit. They only informed the parliamentary party. If they would have informed us, No request came to us, else we would have supported the plan or any government policies... They cannot decide the name of the members by themselves.”

Hitting back, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya said: “West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s decision to force the TMC MP to withdraw from the multi-party delegation is unfortunate. This is a Government of India delegation and should have been kept above partisan politics. Members of Parliament are representatives of the people as well. It sends a subliminal message that Mamata Banerjee and her party are unwilling to speak out against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. What is worse is that while a caucus of senior party apparatchiks prevailed -- likely because they were not part of the delegation -- other senior TMC MPs are now sending feelers to be included.”