Smriti Irani rebuts Rahul Gandhi, raises Congress’s ‘China links’
Union minister Smriti Irani launched a scathing attack on Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on the second day of the no-confidence debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Union minister Smriti Irani launched a scathing attack on Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on the second day of the no-confidence debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, highlighting media reports on purported Chinese connections of media portal NewsClick and questioning the Congress’s stance on the issue.

The senior BJP leader targeted the Congress over a New York Times report on China pumping money into India and various other countries to push its propaganda, including through NewsClick.
Irani said, “(BJP MP) Nishikant Dubey raised the issue of NewsClick. The Congress didn’t say anything that it should be checked but they want his statement to be removed.”
She added: “Tri-continental publication’s researcher’s views were given platform by Congress party on their official pages who write against the interests of the farmers.”
To counter Gandhi’s attack on the Centre over sexual violence in Manipur, Irani highlighted the issues of the Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus from the Valley in the early 1990s and the anti-Sikh riots under a Congress government in 1984, amongst others.
She showed a photo of Girija Tikoo, a lab assistant who was gang raped in Kashmir during the exodus of Pandits.
“The Gandhis don’t want to mention the Kashmiri Pandits. They don’t want to address the atrocities committed on the original residents of J&K… When will Girija Tikoo, Sarla Bhatt get justice?” she asked, referring to victims of sexual violence in past instances.
She also brought up the issue of Article 370, saying, “It was mentioned in the House today that he (Rahul Gandhi) undertook a yatra and gave an assurance that they will reinstate Article 370 if it is up to them... I would like to tell the person who has run away from the House that neither will Article 370 be reinstated in the country nor will those who threaten Kashmiri Pandits with ‘Ralib Galib Chalib’ be spared.”
The BJP MP from Amethi also brought up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and atrocities on the Sikh community during Congress regimes at the Centre. Recounting the horrors of the Emergency, she attacked the Congress saying that the history of the party is covered in blood.
Gandhi, an MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, who spoke just before Irani, said the idea of “Mother India” has been destroyed in Manipur and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not listening to the voice of the people.
Attacking the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, the Opposition’s newly formed bloc, Irani said, “You are not India, for India is not corrupt. India believes in merit, not in dynasty and today of all days, people like you need to remember what was told to the British - Quit India. Corruption, quit India. Dynasty, quit India. Merit now finds a place in India.”
