Amid a political slugfest over BJP MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s recent comment in the Lok Sabha that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should be ‘tried for treason’, the BJP MP on Saturday added that had an Army person done what they did (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi), there would have been a court martial. “I stand by my words,” Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said after Congress leader Ajay Maken sought action against Rathore for his comment.

Taking part in the no-confidence motion debate on Thursday, Rathore said during the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he was present, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi did not meet the athletes but met the Communist Party leaders. “They should be tried for treason,” Rathore said in Parliament.

Congress leader Ajay Maken shared a screenshot of a news article on Sonia Gandhi meeting Indian sportspersons at the Olympic Games Village and asked Rajyavardhan whether it was true. “If true, as a former Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly, I request our floor leaders to initiate breach of privilege proceedings against Sh. Rathore,” Ajay Maken tweeted.

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Asserting that he would stand by his ‘treason’ comment, Rathore asked why Ajay Maken was coming in between while the issue is over Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. “Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi came to Beijing in 2008. I was there at that time. Their car stopped on the road for 2 minutes and they went away from there.

And why did I say ‘treason’ in Parliament? Because they were in China to sign a secret deal with the Communist Party of China. They did not go there as government representatives. The nation wants to know what was the secret deal. This never happened that a political party signs an agreement with the party of a rival country. And at that time Congress was in the government. What did you get in that agreement? Did you weaken the country?” Rathore said.

“Had an Army man done this, he would have been tried for treason. But the power that was controlling the Army signed a secret deal. Why shouldn’t they be tried for treason?” Rathore said.

Congress-CCP pact of 2008 signed in Beijing

The Congress in 2008 signed a pact with the Communist Party of China on consulting each other on bilateral, regional and international developments. The MoU was signed by Xi Jinping, then vice president and standing committee member of politburo and Rahul Gandhi. It was a party-to-party MoU.