Thanks to Rahul’s political immaturity on Rafale jibe, world leaders would now be wary

New Delhi, July 21: When the no-confidence motion was taken up on Friday against the BJP led NDA government, all eyes during the first half were on Rahul Gandhi. He had in fact said sometime back that the day he speaks in Parliament there would be an earthquake.

During his address, he launched a scathing attack on the government which earned him the cheers from the opposition Benches. He also decided to end his speech with some amount of theatrics when he hugged the Prime Minister before saying, " you may call me Pappu, but I still do not hate you." However in a few moments from that he was seen winking which once again raised the question as to how serious was about the so-called pardon he was granting the PM.

While Rahul made several allegations against the PM and his government, the same was countered by Narendra Modi. However one part of his speech pertaining to the Rafale deal in particular was quite disturbing, especially the part in which he quoted French President Emmanuel Macron. He emphasised all along that the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had lied regarding the Rafale deal.

He said that the government claims that there is a secrecy clause, but during his meeting with Macron he was told there was none. His statements in fact created quite an uproar and by evening, both India and France had issued a denial. France denied any conversation with Rahul on the matter.

Many analysts say that he came out as a liar and showed absolutely no political maturity. The damage caused could be quite immense. The question is will any political leader visiting India trust our leaders. They would surely be wary about what they talk in future knowing fully that something said in confidence will be blurted out and in Parliament of all places where MPs enjoy a certain amount of privilege.

Former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, C D Sahay says that Parliament was not to place to launch the 2019 campaign. That apart what was the need to go and talk to the French president and then tell us about what the secrecy deal was. When leaders visit, they speak politely and discuss certain things out of confidence. They would not want their statements to become part of a political cause in India.

Sahay says that the next time anyone going out and seeking a meeting with a foreign leader could well be refused one. They would surely be wary of the fact that there is every chance of them being quoted out of context and especially in Parliament, where not much action could be sought against the MPs.