Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday praised armed forces as he issued clarification on his 'stunt' comment about the Poonch terror attack.
"We are proud of the jawans who join the armed forces to safeguard the country...I made a statement that in the last parliamentary elections, 40 jawans were attacked and lost their lives. To date, the government has not identified the perpetrators responsible for these attacks. Now, it's election time again. Our jawans have been attacked once more, and we've lost one soldier," said the former Punjab chief minister and Congress candidate for the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.
"I would like to ask the government - who are the perpetrators of these attacks? Why haven't they been brought to justice? Why do intelligence failures keep happening? Soldiers have lost their lives once again...My point is, why is this being turned into a political stunt by the BJP?" he added.
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Channi remark on Poonch terror attack sparks controversy
Responding to a query about the assault on the Indian Air Force's convoy in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir, Channi remarked, "'Yeh stuntbaazi ho rahi hai, hamle nahi ho rahe' (These are all stunts, not attacks)."
Also read: Channi calls Poonch terror attack ‘orchestrated’, BJP slams Congress
{{/usCountry}}Also read: Channi calls Poonch terror attack ‘orchestrated’, BJP slams Congress
{{/usCountry}}He said, "Whenever elections are near, such stunts are staged to benefit the BJP. There is no truth to it," while addressing the question in Jalandhar.
Channi accused the BJP of playing “with people's lives and bodies.”
BJP national spokesperson Ajay Alok slammed Channi and said the former Punjab CM has “lost his mind”. He criticised the Congress for engaging in “petty politics over the country's soldiers, calling it a part of their culture”.
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IAF convoy attacked in Poonch
One soldier was killed and four others injured when terrorists ambushed an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch district on Saturday, just three weeks before polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency.
Officials suspect the involvement of the same group of terrorists who attacked troops in nearby Bufliaz on December 21 last year, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers and injuries to three others.