Surgical strike video: BJP using ‘blood of soldiers’ for political gains, says Congress

The Congress on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for using the “blood of soldiers” for political gains and said that ruling government was trying to hide its failure behind Army’s valour.

“Let the ruling dispensation remember that the blood and sacrifice of our brave soldiers cannot become a political vote garnering tool for the Modi Government and the BJP,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a press conference.

Surjewala said that the country needs to know that the Narendra Modi government was trying to hide its failure behind Indian Army’s valour by releasing the video of surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

“The nation needs to be cautioned that whenever Modi govt starts failing, whenever Amit Shah ji’s BJP start losing, they misuse the valour of the Army for their political benefit,” he said.

Also Read | Watch: Video of Indian Army’s surgical strike against Pakistan released

The Congress’s reaction came a day after the release of the video of Army’s surgical strikes across the border along LoC, which was carried out on the intervening night of September 28-29, 2016.

The BJP was using the video of surgical strikes for tapping its own back. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said that the video of the surgical strike was an evidence of the “shamelessness” of those who questioned the authenticity of surgical strikes.

“For all those who wanted “Evidence”..today the evidence of their “shamelessness ” has been presented… (Sic),” Patra tweeted on Wednesday.

The video claimed to be obtained by official sources was taken from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Thermal Imaging (TI) cameras. The video shows how Indian Army soldiers of 4 and 9 Special Forces battalions killed the terrorists and destroyed their launch pads and bankers.