Congress issues gag-order after leaders' controversial comments on Pahalgam attack
What's the story
The Congress leadership has issued a directive prohibiting its members from making statements in public deviating from the party line on the recent Pahalgam terror attack in J&K.
The order comes in the wake of several controversial remarks by Congress leaders regarding the attack, which killed 26 people last week.
Sources told India Today that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were upset over off-the-cuff remarks, which created confusion over the party's stand on the Pahalgam attack.
Internal reprimand
Congress leaders reprimanded for inconsistent statements
An internal reprimand was also issued to those who made statements at variance with the party's view.
On Sunday, Karnataka CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah said he was not in "favor of war with Pakistan," saying, "There should be peace, people must feel secure, and the central government should ensure effective security arrangements."
Pakistani media had covered his remarks, describing them as "voices against war from within India."
Reacting to the remarks, BJP's R Ashoka described Siddaramaiah as "Pakistan Ratna."
Political fallout
Siddaramaiah's comments spark backlash from BJP
Siddaramaiah later clarified he didn't completely rule out war, but that it should be a last resort, after other means of resolution.
Siddaramaiah also blamed the Centre for the Pahalgam attack, saying intelligence failure and lack of preventive measures led to the strike.
"The horrific terror attack in Pahalgam... has made it painfully clear... that there were grave lapses in our intelligence and security apparatus."
Wadettiwar
Wadettiwar questions if terrorists asked about victims' religion
After Siddaramaiah, another Congress leader drew the ire of many with his comments on the Pahalgam attack.
Speaking to ANI news agency, Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar questioned the government's version that terrorists were targeting people specifically on the basis of religion.
"The government should take responsibility for the Pahalgam terrorist attack. They (the government) are saying that terrorists killed people after asking them (about their religion). Do terrorists have time for all this?" Wadettiwar said.