Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy on Friday questioned the authenticity of the Balakot airstrikes, becoming the latest leader from the Congress party and the larger opposition, to doubt the February 2019 action on Pakistan's soil by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
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“Nobody knows for sure if the airstrike, as was claimed, took place. If the responsibility of ensuring the country's internal security was with us (Congress), we wouldn't have left it in anyone's hands,' Reddy said at a press meet.
The Congress leader accused Prime Minister Modi and the BJP of trying to reap “political benefits” from the Pulwama attack and the retaliatory strikes by the IAF.
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“I want to ask him (PM), what were you doing? Why did you let it (Pulwama attack) happen? What did you do to boost the country's internal security? Why did you not take the help of the agencies at your disposal such as the IB and R&AW? It was your failure,” he charged.
The Telangana CM then called on people to vote out the Modi government in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
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{{/usCountry}}The Telangana CM then called on people to vote out the Modi government in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
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{{/usCountry}}“For Modi, everything is about winning elections. His way of thinking is not good for the country. The time has come for the country to get rid of Modi and the BJP. They failed to prevent the Pulwama attack. What was the Intelligence Bureau doing?” Reddy asked.
The Pulwama attack went down on February 14, 2019, after a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, rammed an IED-laden vehicle into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus. On February 26, IAF fighter jets targeted a Jaish hideout in Pakistan's Balakot, killing a "large number: of terrorists and destroying their infrastructure.
(With ANI inputs)