NEW DELHI: With the Lok Sabha elections less than a year away, the Indian Army has been turned into a political tool by both the BJP and the Congress. After some purported video clips of the Army’s September 2016 surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were aired on certain media channels on Wednesday, the Congress launched a scathing attack on the BJP on Thursday, accusing it of using the “blood of soldiers” for electoral gains.
The BJP hit back saying that the Congress was trying to “lower the Army’s morale” and said it was “no more a mainstream party but a fringe player”. The ruling party accused the Congress of repeatedly making statements questioning the armed forces’ commitment and claimed that “terrorists and their patrons in Pakistan would be the happiest” with the Opposition party’s stand.
Several TV channels had on Wednesday showed video clips reportedly of the surgical strikes which were carried out on terror launchpads across the border in September 2016. The defence ministry or the Army has not offered any comment on the footage.
