Pulwama was BJP’s conspiracy just like Godhra, says ex-Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela

Former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela on Thursday claimed that the February 14 Pulwama attack, in which over 40 CRPF soldiers were killed, was a conspiracy of the BJP to win the elections just like Godhra riots in 2002. In a bid to make a point, Vaghela said that the vehicle carrying RDX which was used in the Pulwama attack was bearing the registration number of Gujarat.

"The vehicle with RDX which was used in Pulwama attack was bearing the registration initial of Gujarat — GJ. Godhra was a conspiracy," ANI news agency quoted Vaghela as saying.

The veteran leader from Gujarat, who was in the Congress for a long time but recently joined the NCP, questioned why the Narendra Modi government did not take any pre-emptive measures despite receiving intelligence inputs about the possibility of the attack.

"Even after getting information from intelligence sources regarding Pulwama attack, no pre-emptive measures were taken. And if you had information about Balakot, then why didn’t you take action against these camps. Why were you waiting for something like Pulwama to happen," Vaghela asked.

The former Gujarat chief minister alleged that it wasn’t something new and terrorism was being used by the BJP government to win elections. "No one was killed in Balakot air strike. Even none of the international agency was able to prove that 200 militants were killed. Balakot airstrike was a planned conspiracy. It was supposed to happen," the NCP leader claimed.

"BJP is involved in the whole thing. It is going to bring the sectarian conflict to win the election," he added.

On February 14, more than 40 CRPF soldiers were killed after a suicide attacker rammed a truck full of RDX into their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. Following the attack, India carried out an air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Pakistan’s Balakot and claimed to have inflicted heavy causalities.

Even though no official figures were released, BJP president Amit Shah claimed over 250 terrorists were killed in the strike. The BJP made the air strike a key political issue and Prime Minister Narendra Modi even asked first time voters to cast their vote in honour of the air strike heroes.