BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey made a scathing attack on Congress and its senior leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, accusing compromising choices related to the India-US nuclear deal and earlier nuclear test proposals.
His comments were made through a tweet on X (formerly Twitter), where he raised pertinent questions about the Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Act of 2006.
Referring directly to Rahul Gandhi, Dubey called on the Leader of the Opposition within the Lok Sabha to read the Act, contending that it essentially put India in a subservient role to the United States.
In his Hindi-language tweet, Dubey stated (as translated): "…We were slaves under this American law until 2006/2008… America can search almost all the citizens of our country and strategic nuclear facilities whenever it wishes. Can India also visit America and react similarly?"
He then questioned political procedure behind the passage of the nuclear deal in 2008, suggesting outside coercion and inside manipulation.
"Was the American pressure that in 2008 parties were smashed and MPs were purchased with money to enact this legislation?" he asked, hinting that the Congress-led government gave in to worldwide influence.
Dubey also questioned the validity of a foreign parliament's role in dictating India's sovereignty, noting: "If India is a sovereign country, then how can the US Parliament pass laws on India?"
He also nudged Rahul Gandhi to recall his role when the deal was made, noting, "Finally Rahul Baba, you were the General Secretary of the Congress back then."
Pointing to past incidents, Dubey quoted declassified US records and asserted that the Congress government had earlier pulled back from nuclear testing in 1995 at the behest of America, even though then-Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was willing to go ahead.
"Go back and read the history of how Rahul Gandhi, whom I call 'Rahul Baba,' gets scared of America," Dubey posted on X.
As per him, a senior-level leak within the Indian government permitted the US to step in diplomatically ahead of the test.
He referred to one of them, quoting a declassified note: "Charge d'Affairs was asked to make arrangements for a meeting between PMO Principal Secretary Varma and Ambassador Wisner when he returned to New Delhi." This message, Dubey stated, was part of an eleventh-hour American attempt to prevent the test.
Dubey juxtaposed that caution with the BJP's straightforward approach under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998, when India conducted the Pokhran nuclear tests despite international sanctions and criticism.
"In contrast, when the BJP came to power under Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998, we went ahead with the nuclear tests at Pokhran despite international sanctions and diplomatic pressure," he declared.
Pointing to recent leadership, Dubey commented, "Prime Minister Modi has done the same in recent years. Rahul Gandhi needs to read history and think."
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