Opposition not given chance to pay tributes to CDS Rawat in RS unfortunate, says Kharge

Opposition leaders on Thursday demanded a few minutes to pay tributes to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 defence personnel after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh issued a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the chopper crash near Tamil Nadu's Coonoor, but were not allowed the same.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the "attitude" and called it "unfortunate".

"After Defence Minister's statement in Rajya Sabha, Opposition demanded 1-2 minutes for each MP to pay tribute to CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and others who died in the chopper crash. But we were not allowed. It is unfortunate and we condemn this attitude," he told ANI.

Notably, the Opposition had also adjourned their demonstration for the day.

"Rest of the matters are political, but this was the matter of a person who headed three forces of our country, said Kharge while also saying that it was unfortunate not to give the Opposition the time to pay tribute.

"It tells how the House is being run; we condemn this incident. May the government get some wisdom. May the families of the soldiers get the strength to bear the loss. We pray for a speedy recovery of the one who is injured, Varun ji," he added.

Talking about the Opposition's decision to not hold a dharna for the 12 suspended MPs for today, as a show of respect to the CDS, Kharge said, "It is sad that neither the government nor the chair gave us permission for the tribute."

RJD MP Manoj Jha also questioned the Centre on the issue and in a press conference, said, "Today we should have been seen standing together in unity, but the Centre has made a big mistake. Even today, they continued with the 'my way or the high way' attitude."

In conversation with ANI, Manoj Jha said "There should be a high-level inquiry into this accident so that the truth of the cause of the accident can be known."

DMK MP TKS Elangovan added, "The accident happened in our state (Tamil Nadu); Chief Minister Stalin himself was at the spot. We too had arrived; it is a very sad incident, we are all united in this matter, but our only demand was that we should also be given a chance to mourn this incident in the House, but the government did not give us that chance."

A total of 14 people were on-board the IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter that crashed near Coonoor on Wednesday claiming the lives of 13 people including General Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat.

General Rawat was appointed as India's first Chief of Defense Staff on December 31, 2019. He previously served as Chief of the Army Staff from January 2017 to December 2019. He was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978.

A veteran of counterinsurgency warfare, CDS Rawat served in the most difficult terrains including Northern and Eastern commands.

( With inputs from ANI )

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