BJP president Amit Shah on Friday hit back at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for suggesting that his party was using the Indian Army’s surgical strike across the Line of Control for political gains ahead of crucial assembly elections.
“These words are not acceptable. When we as a nation together are gathering confidence to fight terrorism, Rahul Gandhi is giving such absurd statements,” Shah said a day after the Congress vice president’s controversial remark that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was profiteering from the sacrifice of soldiers.
“I strongly condemn his remarks. They are an insult not only to the brave armed forces and martyrs but the entire country. Is the blood of our soldiers something that you can trade?” the BJP chief asked during a press conference.
“The use of the word “dalali for soldiers” shows the Congress’ mindset. The word is synonymous with the opposition party whose leaders were embroiled in several scams worth thousands of crores,” Shah said.
“Rahul Gandhi’s statement shows the Congress mentality. The Congress is trying to bring our Army’s morale down. The BJP will not do such things. We believe in our armed forces,” Shah said.
Hitting back to Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi said, “I fully support the surgical strikes and I have said so unequivocally, but I will not support using…the Indian Army in political posters and ‘propaganda’ all across the country.”
“Unki dalali kar rahe ho… Yeh bilkul ghalat hai… Hindustan ki sena ne Hindustan kakaam kiya, aap apna kaam keejiye… (You are trading on them. This is totally wrong… The Indian Army did its job for India, you do your work),” he had said on Thursday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had described Rahul Gandhi as an `immature leader` after his ‘khoon ki dalali‘ comment.
In an obvious attack on Amit Shah, Congress party’s senior leader Kapil Sibal said, “How can those who have served jail time and have murder charges against them question Rahul Gandhi’s lineage”.
