Hope 56-inch strongman has a plan on Doklam: Rahul takes a dig at Modi

In Doklam, it’s China season again. How will Modi ji react this time, Rahul Gandhi had asked in a poll on Twitter.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday targeted the Narendra Modi government over the standoff with China over Doklam. Referring to a poll conducted by him on Twitter, the Congress chief said that thousands took part in it and voted on how PM Modi would deal with any future Doklam-like situation with China.

Taking a jibe at PM Modi, the Gandhi scion tweeted, “Last week thousands took my Twitter poll. 63% felt Modi Ji would use hugplomacy, blame RM and cry in public to deal with the Doklam issue! For India’s sake, I hope you were wrong and our 56 inch strongman has a plan.”

In a poll on Twitter on March 21 on Twitter, Rahul had said, “In Doklam, it’s China season again. How will Modi ji react this time?” The options given by him were – Hugplomacy, Blame RM, Cry in public, All of the above.

As of Tuesday, 63 per cent respondents voted for All of the above while 14 per cent went for Hugplomacy option. Seven per cent of the respondents went for ‘Blame RM’ while 16 per cent voted for ‘Cry in public’ option.

This comes amid a war of words between India and China. While India has warned Beijing against any attempt to change the present state of affairs on the plateau, China has asserted that Doklam is a Chinese territory and the question of changing the status quo does not arise.

"Regarding the border issue, China is committed to maintaining peace, stability and tranquillity there and Donglang (Doklam) belongs to China as we have historical conventions. So China`s activity there is within its sovereign rights. There is no such thing as changing the status quo," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday.

In an interview to Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post earlier, Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale had said that any attempt to change the status quo in Doklam would lead to another stand-off. 

The ambassador, however, had added that both the nations were well within their rights for an Army build up behind the point of the face-off and the status quo in Doklam remained in place.

Bambawale had also stressed the need to demarcate the 3,448-km-long disputed border, which is the root cause of friction between India and China.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said on Sunday that India was "alert and ready" to deal with any "unforeseen situation" in Doklam. She had also said that the government is constantly working towards modernisation of forces.

"We are alert and ready for any unforeseen situation in Doklam. We are constantly working towards the modernisation of our forces. We will maintain our territorial integrity," she had told reporters in Dehradun on the sidelines of a function.