New Delhi: A poster war has broken out in Uttarakhand between the BJP and Congress ahead of the upcoming election next year.
The Congress has come under criticism from BJP for putting a photograph of Rahul Gandhi alongside a poster displaying former Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and other military officers who died in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu last week.
The poster was put up ahead of Rahul Gandhi's rally in Dehradun on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1971 war.
Accusing the Congress of "disrespecting martyrs", BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the party can't honour soldiers without parivar bhakti (family worship).
"Shameless Congress party puts pics of Rahul Gandhi along with martyrs on Shraddhanjali Wall. Even here they can’t honour soldiers without parivar bhakti (family worship). Congress has the DNA of disrespecting armed forces. They had called Bipin Rawat ji 'Sadak ka Gunda'," Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted.
The last sentence in the tweet was a reference to Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit's remark in 2017. Dikshit had called Bipin Rawat a "sadak ka gunda" (roadside goon) even though he apologised later.
Earlier in the day, posters were put up in Dehradun showing Rahul Gandhi with Sandeep Dikshit with teh caption, "Kya General Rawat ko sadak ka gunda kehne wale karenge sena ka samman (Will those who called General Rawat a street goon honour the soldiers)?"
The poster seems to have come up as a reply to a giant cut-out of General Bipin Rawat installed by Congress. It has been prominently placed along with that of Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
"Congress must realise that it can't malign our men in uniform and then gain political mileage in their name. Shame on such despicable politics," BJP's Amit Malviya tweeted.