"Rahul Gandhi already dealt with PM Modi in Lok Sabha": Sanjay Raut on Amit Shah's "mujhse nipat lo" remarks

"Pradhan Mantri ko to pehle hi Lok Sabha main Rahul Gandhi ne nipat liya hai (PM has already been dealt with by Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha). All these big talks are fine, but we saw the condition of the Prime Minister in Lok Sabha - before Priyanka Gandhi, Gaurav Gogoi. He was dealt with there; that's why he ran away from the Rajya Sabha. This is why he didn't have the courage to come to Rajya Sabha," Raut told reporters here.

Reacting to Shah's "a Hindu cannot be a terrorist" remarks during the recently concluded debate on Operation Sindoor, Raut called on the government to secure the release of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Navy officer on death row in Pakistan.

Pakistan claims that Jadhav was arrested in Balochistan in 2016 on charges of espionage and terrorism, while India rejects Pakistan's allegations and says that he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar.

"A terrorist does not have any caste or religion. The people of Pakistan call Kulbhushan Jadhav a terrorist, a Hindu terrorist. We are not ready to accept it. The government should tell Pakistan that he is our citizen and get him free," the UBT MP said.

Raut's remarks come after opposition MPs staged a walkout on Wednesday from the Rajya Sabha after a heated altercation between Shah and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge over Prime Minister Modi's absence during the proceedings.

Opposition MPs led by Kharge demanded that the Prime Minister come to the Upper House and brief them on Operation Sindoor as he did on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha. Kharge said that PM Modi should have come to the house, as many of the opposition's questions were directly related to him.

As opposition MPs then staged a walkout, Shah said that the opposition members simply cannot stand to listen to this debate, as they were unable to stop terrorism for so many years.(ANI)