Congress should clarify whether it approves of surgical strikes: BJP

Terrorists and their patrons in Pakistan would be very happy with the statement of the opposition party, he said.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

New Delhi: The BJP today accused the Congress of questioning the commitment and courage of the armed forces and lowering its morale, asserting that it is no longer a mainstream party but a fringe player. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also rejected the Congress' allegation that the Modi government is politicising the surgical strikes, saying if the BJP wanted to draw political mileage then a video purportedly showing the Army's operation in PoK would have been released during the polls in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat or Karnataka. He said the Army officers connected with the surgical strikes, which were carried out in 2016, have confirmed the video's authenticity. Questions like why the video was released now and where it came from are not relevant, Prasad said and asked the opposition party to answer if it considers the video real or not and approves of the surgical strikes or not. Terrorists and their patrons in Pakistan would be very happy with the statement of the opposition party, he said. The Congress has become so desperate with its repeated losses in elections that it has been repeatedly questioning the commitment and courage of our armed forces, he said. "It is boosting the morale of terrorists. To what extent the Congress will stoop for votes," he said. "It is clear from its repeated comments that the Congress is no longer a mainstream party but a fringe player, a fringe party in the national politics," Prasad told reporters. Earlier, he said, its chief Rahul Gandhi used the barb of 'khoon ki dalali' against the government following the surgical strikes and his mother Sonia Gandhi had used 'maut ke saudagar' jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. Rahul Gandhi has got the "right training," Prasad said. The Law Minister also attacked the Congress for equating Modi with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, calling it shameful and a reflection on the opposition party's "political decline." Likening a global leader like Modi with Aurangzeb is a new low, he said.