NEW DELHI — The Congress party on Sunday accused the BJP of “shamelessly” crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the success of Operation Sindoor, sidelining the contributions of the Indian defence forces. Congress demanded an apology from PM Modi and BJP President JP Nadda for repeatedly insulting the armed forces, martyrs, and their families.
At a press conference here, All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba presented video evidence of BJP leaders—including a Rajya Sabha MP, Madhya Pradesh Deputy CM Jagdish Devda, and minister Vijay Shah—making disparaging remarks about the armed forces and the families of those martyred. She highlighted a controversial statement by MP Ram Chander Jangra, who implied that the wives of the Pahalgam terror attack victims lacked courage.
Ms. Lamba also criticized the online abuse faced by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Lt. Vinay Narwal’s widow Himanshi Narwal, allegedly orchestrated by BJP’s online supporters, for simply expressing measured views.
In the latest salvo, BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, Ram Chander Jangra, suggested that wives of the tourists killed in the Pahalgam terror attack lacked courage and spirit of warrior women. He claimed that if the women had fought back, casualties would have been lower.
She also referred to the abuse and trolling that the Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was subjected to by the BJP’s troll army, just because he was putting forth the government’s point of view. Similarly, she pointed out how Himanshi Narwal, the widow of martyr Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who was martyred in Pahalgam, was trolled and abused just because she had appealed for harmony.
The Mahila Congress president said,even more shocking was the silence of the Prime Minister and the BJP leadership, including its president.
She said, while the law will take its own course as an FIR has been registered in one of cases and that too at the instance of the High Court and an SIT has been constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court, but what moral ground does the BJP have in defending and protecting its leaders like MP Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, minister Vijay Shah and MP Ram Chander Jangra.
Ms Lamba observed that all these leaders seem to have been inspired by Modi himself, who had said on record that a trader is more brave and courageous than a soldier. She also played a recording of the Prime Minister saying so.
Reiterating her party’s demand for an all-party meeting to be chaired by the Prime Minister , she also sought convening of both the houses of the Parliament. She asked if the opposition MPs can be sent to foreign countries to explain India’s position to the world, why can’t a parliament session be convened at home, so that country can know about the success of the Operation Sindoor.
She also referred to the complaints of the people living along the Line of Control near Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, who said that the Prime Minister had not even mentioned them in his speeches.
Ms Lamba pointed out, in contrast, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi had visited Jammu and Kashmir twice during this period to express solidarity and support with the people, particularly the victims of the terror attack and Pakistan army shelling.
