New Delhi, February 6: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress over the reports that a few cabinet ministers of United Progressive Alliance – II (UPA) government had spread fakes news that the Indian Army, then headed by General VK Singh planned a coup to topple the government. The BJP demanded answers from the Congress chief Rahul Gandhi over the reports. The Sunday Guardian in its report also quoted Intelligence Bureau officials from 2011 and 2012. However, IB refuted the claims after being contacted by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Indian Army is Conservative, Can't Allow Homosexuals: General Bipin Rawat.

The ruling BJP party blamed the Gandhi family for the whole incident. “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,” reported Repulicworld.com quoting BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao. Indian Army's Major General Dismissed From Services After Found Guilty by Court Martial in Two-Year-Old Sexual Harassment Case.

Replying to the BJP's allegations Ex-Defence Minister AK Antony said that when these reports of coup surfaced in 2012, he had given answers in Parliament. Antony stated, "As Defence Min at that time, there were a lot of questions in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, I had given detailed answers. Please go through Parliament website, you'll get the answer I'd given."

The incident was dated back to January, 2012, when media reported that the movement of two army units towards Delhi was noted. The movement of troops sent alarm bells ringing at Raisina Hill. The Incident took place on January 16, 2012. This unit was identified as a large element of the airborne 50 Para Brigade based at Agra. In the Explanation, the Army had said that it was carrying out exercises to check its ability to make quick deployments of key units during fog.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 06, 2019 04:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).