Congress, BJP spar over surgical strikes; Shashi Tharoor caught in the crossfire

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

The controversy surrounding the opposition's claims of surgical strikes, amid a national sentiment for the armed forces following Operation Sindoor, escalated after the Congress on Friday shared a video claiming actions against Pakistan during the earlier UPA regime at the Centre.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, leading an all-party delegation to the US, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and Guyana, a day ago had remarked that 'for the first time, India breached the Line of Control to conduct a surgical strike', triggering a war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
Sharing the video on social media platform X, the Congress said, 'No Noise. No PR. Only Decisive Actions 6 Surgical Strikes Were Carried Out Under Congress Govt.'
The BJP swiftly hit back and shared an HT report, among others, that quoted Rahul Gandhi claiming, 'We did 3 surgical strikes'. 'Congress is corrupt, even when it comes to numbers related to national security. However, there were no surgical strikes under UPA as confirmed by the DGMO in response to an RTI query dated April 2018. Darpok Congress must STOP LYING,' the BJP said.
Talking to the media on Thursday, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala insisted that UPA had carried out 6 surgical strikes. 'When I was in charge of communications, I even did a press conference on it,' he said, indicating that the BJP didn't object to the Congress' claims on surgical strike.
According to Congress, the first surgical strike under their government was carried out on 19 June 2008 in Bhattal Sector, Poonch. The second strike was carried out in the Sharda sector from August 30. The third one took place on 6 January 2013, and the fourth one on July 27-28, 2013. The fifth surgical strike was carried out in August 2013, while the sixth was carried out at Neelam Ghati on January 14, 2014.
Surjewala added that even late PM Manmohan Singh spoke about surgical strikes.
On Thursday, Tharoor hit back at his critics and said, 'After a long and successful day in Panama, I have to wind up at midnight here with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don't really have time for this — but anyway: For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC: in the past. (1) I was clearly and explicitly speaking only about reprisals for terrorist attacks and not about previous wars; & (2) My remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by our responsible respect for the LoC and the IB. But as usual, critics and trolls are welcome to distort my views and words as they see fit. I genuinely have better things to do. Goodnight,' he said on X.
Tharoor's rebuttal came a day after Congress leader Udit Raj accused him of being 'dishonest' and for allegedly denigrating the 'golden history' of the party. Raj suggested that he would recommend Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make Tharoor a 'super-spokesperson of the BJP' or India's foreign minister.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju questioned the Congress' stance, and asked, 'What does the Congress party want & how much they really care for the country? Should Indian MPs go to foreign nation and speak against India and its Prime Minister? There's a limit to political desperation! We Indians must speak in one voice in crucial time at least !!'
Surjewala, meanwhile, tried to play down the entire episode. 'Tharoor is a seasoned and experienced leader of the Congress and is very much part of the Congress family,' he said, though insisting that Tharoor was wrong about the surgical strikes.
'Congress party only corrected (him) by pointing out that surgical strikes against Pakistan and other dens of terrorists was a regular feature even during the UPA term -- to give a befitting reply to terrorists by our armed forces and the Congress governments. Those instances have been detailed in the past by the communications department (when Surjewala headed the department). Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh as himself spoken about them; Tharoor himself in his book spoken about them, and Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera have only put the record straight. It is not a matter of acrimony and doubt,' Surjewala added.