Terming Rahul Gandhi as the “most irresponsible politician” India has seen, the BJP on Thursday asked the Congress leader to “deescalate” his politics of “misinformation and propaganda” in targeting the government over the death of Indian soldiers in a clash with Chinese troops in Ladakh. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters that Mr. Gandhi was acting in an immature and irresponsible manner by attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his tweets when the government has already called an all-party meeting on Friday over the border row.
Mr. Gandhi on Thursday questioned why Indian soldiers were sent “unarmed to martyrdom” in Ladakh and who is responsible for sending them towards danger. He had earlier attacked Mr. Modi, asking why he was “hiding”.
Hitting back, Mr. Patra said Mr. Gandhi wants to show that India left its unarmed soldiers to die and then cited a 1996 agreement between China and India, when Deve Gowda was prime minister, that prohibited armies of both countries from using any weapon within 2 km of their border.
“You are the most irresponsible politician India has yet seen. Read, understand and then speak. Just don’t rant against your country. Don’t make such unfounded and misleading claims against your own country to launch your politics,” he said.
Mr. Patra claimed that the country will ‘fight all three Cs’ together and emerge victorious if the Congress stands against its sentiments.
The three Cs were the coronavirus, the stand off with China and the Congress, he claimed.
The prime minister is not merely a person or is of a party but he represents the entire country, Mr. Patra said, attacking Mr. Gandhi for his “immature and irresponsible” tweets.
Mr. Modi has asserted that there will be no compromise with Indian territorial integrity, the BJP spokesperson noted, and said Mr. Gandhi does not trust the prime minister, defence minister or even Army chief, who had recently commented over the issue.
“You need to deescalate this politics of misinformation and propaganda. India will not forgive Rahul Gandhi for this sort of escalation,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi had also cast doubts on surgical strikes and air strikes against terrorists inside Pakistan, Mr. Patra alleged.
He also referred to a 2008 MoU between the Congress and the ruling Communist party of China and asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul to explain its details.
Rahul Gandhi, a Congress general secretary then, and Xi Jinping, the current Chinese president who was then a general secretary of his party, had signed it, Mr. Patra said.
The MoU, he claimed reading from news reports, was aimed at building relationship between the Congress, the “Nehru Gandhi family in particular”, and China’s ruling party.
During the 2017 Doklam stand off between India and China, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had a dinner meeting with the Chinese envoy, Mr. Patra said, noting that the Congress had first denied it before acknowledging it.
Rahul Gandhi’s fresh attack on the government came a day after he asked Defence Minister Rajnath Singh why he did not name China in his tweet and why it took him two days to condole the deaths of 20 Army personnel.
“China has committed a big crime by killing unarmed Indian soldiers. I want to ask who sent these bravehearts towards danger without arms and why. Who is responsible for this,” he asked in a video message.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
