New Delhi: The Congress hit out Monday at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks that cloud cover could help IAF planes evade Pakistani radars during the Balakot strikes. The party said that while ‘boasting’ Modi ‘disrespected war strategy’ and committed an ‘unforgivable crime’.
In an interview to a private news channel aired Saturday, the Prime Minister said he relied on his ‘raw wisdom’ to dispel doubts of defence experts who wanted the air strikes to be deferred due to inclement weather.
Taking a swipe at Modi, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted, “In 70 years no PM has made fun of military might, but Modi ji kept his raw wisdom above military’s professionalism.”
He added: “He (Modi) is so busy garnering votes in the name of military that he ended up insulting the forces. While boasting, Modi ji disrespected war strategy and committed an unforgivable crime.
The CPI(M) has also moved the Election Commission (EC), alleging that Modi had revealed ‘operational details of a sensitive military mission’ in the interview with the purpose to influence voters.
Rejecting the charge, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said, “PM Modi did not reveal anything (about the Balakot strike) he was not supposed to reveal.’
Meanwhile at a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera hit out at the Prime Minister for giving out details of the operation, stating that the Armed Forces had kept it a secret but Modi himself was making them public.
“Prime Minister is proudly saying that I overruled experts. A number of other veterans have condemned this. If you want to prove yourself to be ‘Mr 56’, do it, if you want to prove yourself to be the most intelligent, do it, but for that you are making public confidential things related to the country’s security,” Khera stated.
“Then he brought in clouds, we have not seen such jokes about the PM of a country that are now coming about Modi ji. What kind of an image you have created for those abroad,” Khera added.
Khera also said that the country was entrusted in the hands of a person who does not know the difference between weather radar and avionics radar. “Even if he did not know, he should hide his lack of knowledge rather than display it,” Khera said.
In another dig at Modi, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal tweeted, “Balakot secret revealed by Modi: ‘I thought there are clouds, we can escape radar. Ok, go ahead, chal pade’. Gave clarity to experts confused about launching in bad weather. What a leader, what a mind! We now know that: No radar can penetrate Modi’s clouded mind!”
The cross-border strike on terror camps was carried out in response to the Pulwama attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.