New Delhi: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) president today attacked former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for not attending a single meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence since its formation as part of the 17th Lok Sabha last year.

Taking it to Twitter, JP Nadda wrote, ” Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible opposition leader should not do.”

Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible opposition leader should not do.

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) July 6, 2020

“Rahul Gandhi belongs to that glorious dynastic tradition where as far as defence is concerned, committees don’t matter, only commissions do. Congress has many deserving members who understand parliamentary matters but one dynasty will never let such leaders grow. Really sad”, he added.

Rahul Gandhi belongs to that glorious dynastic tradition where as far as defence is concerned, committees don’t matter, only commissions do.
Congress has many deserving members who understand parliamentary matters but one dynasty will never let such leaders grow. Really sad.

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) July 6, 2020

The committee has met 11 times since September 2019, with the last meeting having been convened on 12 March. According to the Lok Sabha website, Gandhi, who is a member of the committee, hasn’t attended any of these meetings.

The committee is a departmentally related standing committee (DRSC) of select members of Parliament. It is one of the 24 DSRCs, including on agriculture, commerce, human resource and development, among others.

The defence parliamentary committee has a total of 31 members — 21 from the Lok Sabha, nominated by its speaker, and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, nominated by its chairman. It is responsible for examining bills pertaining to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), along with other defence-related issues of importance in Parliament. The term of office for the members of the committee does not exceed one year.