Nagpur: Former state Congress president and Sakoli MLA Nana Patole on Sunday said PM Narendra Modi should use China’s presence in India for the BRICS summit to bluntly demand that it vacate Indian territory. He also accused the PM of staying silent on the issue.Patole stressed that China has occupied territories like Arunachal and Ladakh. “The PM should speak bluntly and demand China’s withdrawal. That would be the greatest benefit India could derive from this summit. However, PM Modi isn’t saying anything about this. Consequently, the public is deeply concerned, wondering if PM Modi has effectively surrendered to China,” Patole said in Nagpur.Patole also weighed in on the row over a mosque structure near Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, saying it was not a recent structure and accused BJP govt of using it to whip up a communal controversy. “I believe that mosque isn’t new. It is very old. But stoking Hindu-Muslim tensions and diverting attention from the public’s core issues is the agenda of the BJP govt,” he said.
