New Delhi: Buoyed by Penguin News’ statement on the yet-to-be-published memoirs of former Army Chief (Retd) Naravane and the author’s endorsement of it, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi and accused him of making baseless claims that violated not only parliamentary convention but also law.Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was now clear that Rahul Gandhi was “in line with his character” and had once again spread lies and misled the Parliament and the country.“Penguin has issued a public statement making it clear that General Naravane’s memoirs have not been published in any form. They have also claimed ownership of the copyright,” he said, adding that Rahul’s act of showing a copy of the book violated copyright laws. “What is this? You are the leader of the opposition and you are citing false material,” he said.BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi added that the stand taken by Penguin and Naravane exposed Rahul and destroyed the “lies” he was trying to tell in the Lok Sabha. “His fictional imagination has been destroyed by publishers and authors.” He said his crime was “inexcusable” and he must apologize.Trivedi said that while Rahul was questioning the claims of others, it was now clear that he was the only one who had lied in the entire incident and accused him of raising questions on key issues such as national security.
