New Delhi:
Why did Rahul Gandhi take so long to publicly pay his respects to the armed forces, the BJP asked on Tuesday, criticizing the former congress leader for dismissing Digvijaya Singh’s controversial comments about surgical strikes as his “personal opinion”.
It also asked Congress to clarify its position on the issues of terrorism and national security.
While Mr Gandhi slammed his fellow party member Digvijaya Singh for asking questions about surgical strikes as the BJP seized the spat to corner the opposition party, BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the congress has changed the habit has to project uncomfortable views about its leaders as their personal opinion and asked if there is any limit to such an opinion.
“The question is what is the standard of these leaders when it comes to respecting our armed forces. Indians do not seek evidence of their heroics but salute them,” Mr Prasad told reporters, noting that Mr Singh has a history enjoys taking controversial positions. be it visiting families of suspected terrorists killed in the Batla House encounter or praising radical Islamist preacher Zakir Naik.
He attacked Mr Gandhi for his “faltering” stance on the armed forces and also cited some of his earlier comments, including a recent comment in Dausa during the Bharat Jodo Yatra questioning the government’s handling of the border standoff with China, claiming that the Chinese are “beating up” Indian soldiers.
He had used the “khoon ki dalali” barb after the 2016 surgical strikes to attack the Modi government and went to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to show moral support to the “tukde tukde gang,” he said. Mr Prasad to reporters.
Why it took him so many years to say publicly that he respects the armed forces, the BJP leader asked. He should also have said “sorry” for what he said earlier, Mr Prasad added.
He also took a look at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh for physically preventing a journalist from questioning Singh about his statement about the surgical strikes and the 2019 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel.
Mr Gandhi said on Tuesday that he and the Congress disagree with Singh’s comments about surgical strikes and that the armed forces are not required to provide any evidence. It’s ridiculous, he said of the comments.
“I do not agree with Digvijaya Singh’s statement. It is obvious that we do not agree with it. It is the official position of the Congress,” Gandhi told reporters in Jammu and Kashmir.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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