BJP demands answers after report reveals UPA ministers pushed Indian Army-vs-Manmohan Singh coup narrative despite intelligence ruling it out

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday slammed the Congress party and demanded answers from its party president Rahul Gandhi about the media report which suggested that a few cabinet members of the UPA II government had pushed the fake narrative of Indian Army, then headed by General VK Singh, planning a coup to usurp the then government of Manmohan Singh.

On February 2, an article by Sunday Guardian quoted Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials from 2011 and 2012, who had suggested that a few leaders of UPA II had tried to establish the false fact that Army was trying to topple the then government. And the BJP, citing this report, has called out the Congress party for explanation.

"This was a manufactured coup. This was a drama - a conspiracy. Via this, plot was hatched to defame the Army. The country's top intelligence officials, when they tell the Prime Minister that it's a hoax, should have ended there. Then what prompted UPA ministers to bring this to light three months later? This is a serious attempt at trying to subvert the Indian Army. What was the motive about planting the fake story about the Army coup? What was the objective of the Congress?" BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said.

The blame for the whole saga was then pinned on the Gandhi family, which according to GVL Narasimha Rao, is the only authority capable of taking such major decision in the Congress.

"Was Rahul Gandhi the brains behind this dangerous conspiracy? No leader in the Congress apart from members of the Gandhi family can take decisions like this. We also ask if there was any hand of the Pakistan ISI in this because we know their track-record. Or was this attempt to malign the Indian Army and an attempt to equalise it with the coup-happy Pakistan Army? We demand answers from the Congress. They claim to have respect for the Indian Army but they abuse the Army and the Army chief now and then. This needs an answer from Rahul Gandhi," he added.

The media report mentioned that back in 2011, Manmohan Singh, after being advised on this matter by some of the senior UPA leaders, informally contacted the Intelligence Bureau (IB) about whether the Indian army was planning a coup to topple the government.

The IB officials vehemently denied such claims, and ruled out any possibility of an Army coup. Yet, despite the assurances, a few senior leaders of Congress leaked a fake narrative to media in order to establish a fact that Army was trying to topple the government.