‘Judges won’t decide who’s a true Indian and who's not’: Priyanka Gandhi on Supreme Court's rap to Rahul Gandhi over China land grab claim

Congress MP from Kerala's Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday defended her brother and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme Court's rap on the knuckle over his Chinese land grab claim during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, asserting that the judiciary should not decide who qualifies as a “true Indian.”

"With all due respect to the judiciary, it is not for them to determine who is a true Indian and who is not. The judges will not decide that," she said. Backing Rahul Gandhi's stand, she added, "Rahul Gandhi has always respected the army and our soldiers... The LoP's responsibility to question the government, and that is what he does. The government does not like it, and they do not want to answer him; that is why they resort to all these tactics..."

She also took a sharp dig at the ruling government over disruptions in Parliament: “How difficult is it to run the Parliament? Have they become so weak that they cannot even run the Parliament? Why can't they hold discussions on one topic that the entire opposition demands?"

The Supreme Court on Monday put a hold on defamation proceedings against Rahul Gandhi and sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the complainant. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih was hearing the matter. During the hearing, the court questioned Gandhi over his earlier comments.

"You are the Leader of the Opposition. Say things in Parliament, why do you have to say it on social media?" the judges asked. They also added, "How do you get to know that 2000 sq km land was occupied by the Chinese? If you are a true Indian, you wouldn't say such a thing."

These comments referred to what Gandhi had said in 2022 during a press conference in Rajasthan, just before the Bharat Jodo Yatra. At the time, he had raised concerns over the India-China border situation and the lack of media attention on it.

“People will ask about Bharat Jodo Yatra, here and there, Ashok Gahlot and Sachin Pilot and whatnot. But they will not ask a single question about China capturing 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory, killing 20 Indian soldiers and thrashing our soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh. But the Indian press doesn’t ask a question to them about this. Isn’t it true? The nation is watching all this. Don’t pretend that people don’t know,” he had said.