How is Surgical Strike video exploiting people's sentiments in party's favour: Swamy asks Congress

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Subramanian Swamy on Thursday hit back at Congress saying that how Surgical Strike video was exploiting people's sentiments in BJP's favour?.

"Just because they (Congress) can't produce such videos, because there's none, we shouldn't do it too? How's this exploiting people's sentiments in BJP's favour? If you did it, why did you hide it? It's just like the old saying grapes are sour," Swamy said, reported news agency ANI.

Videos of Indian Army-led surgical strike across the LoC that took place in September 2016 destroyed Pakistan Army's position and terrorists launch pads, were made public by BJP on Wednesday.

The Congress today accused the Modi government and the BJP of politicising the September 2016 surgical strikes after a video of the same was released and said the blood and sacrifice of the country's brave soldiers cannot be a political vote garnering tool for them.

Addressing a press conference, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala charged that while on the one hand the Modi government is seeking credit for the sacrifice and valour of the armed forces, on the other it has failed to provide direction and vision to deal with Pakistan.

He also accused the government of meting out step-motherly treatment to the armed forces by not providing them with state-of-the-art equipment and slashing their budgetary allocation.

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, he told reporters, alleging that the surgical strikes of September 28 and 29, 2016 were shamelessly politicised by the BJP for the March 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

On the one hand, the BJP indulge in seeking credit for the sacrifice of our soldiers and surgical strikes, yet the Government has utterly failed to provide the direction, the vision and the policy for dealing with Pakistan and checkmating Pak-sponsored terrorism, he charged.

Surjewala said the "apathy" and "incapacity" of the Modi Government has resulted in the sacrifice of 146 soldiers, more than 1,600 ceasefire violations by Pakistan and 79 terrorist attacks post September 2016.

By making public the videos of the strikes, has the government not somehow endangered lives of armed forces participating in them as also civilians living along the Line of Control, he asked.