'Pulwama attack was planned, Modi murdered 42 jawans for political gains': Ex-Guv Qureshi says

New Delhi, Apr 15: Former Mizoram Governor Aziz Qureshi has reportedly made a controversial remark on the Pulwama terrorist attack in which over 40 CRPF personnel were martyred.

"Plan karke aapne ye karwaya taki apko mauka mile, lekin janta samajhti hai. Agar Modi ji chahein ki 42 jawanon ki hatya karke, unki chitaon ki raakh se apna rajtilak kar lein, janta nahi karne degi. (You planned it and got it done, but public knows it. If Modi ji wants that he can ascend to power by murdering 42 jawans and use their ashes for his coronation, then people will nto allow this)," Qureshi, a Congress leader, said as per news agency ANI.

According to a report in Zee News, Qureshi asked how the vehicle loaded with explosives was allowed to enter Jammu and Kashmir. He added that if PM Modi thinks that he can win the election by planning the martyrdom of 40 CRPF personnel then he will be given a befitting reply by the voters.

Aziz Qureshi was the 15th Governor of Mizoram. He has also served as the governor of Uttarakhand and governor of Uttar Pradesh.

Qureshi is not the first one make controversial remarks on Pulwama attack. In March, National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah had stirred controversy by raising doubts over the death of 40 CRPF soldiers in Pulwama attack. In a purported video shared, Abdullah could reportedly be heard as saying, "how many jawans have been martyred in Chhattisgarh? Has Modi ever paid tributes to them? However, those 40 who died in Pulwama, I have my doubts".

Earlier, senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav claimed "conspiracy" in the Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF troopers were killed, saying the jawans in J&K were killed for the sake of votes.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had demanded apology from Ram Gopal Yadav over his remark on the Pulwama attack.