Congress and BJP Clash Over Surgical Strikes; Shashi Tharoor’s Remarks Ignite Internal and Political Debate

Congress and BJP Clash Over Surgical Strikes: The dispute about the opposition claiming surgical strikes, while the country was feeling patriotic about the armed forces following Operation Sindoor, was intensified after Congress on Friday shared a clip, claiming that some actions against Pakistan during the earlier UPA regime at the Centre were surgical strikes.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, on an all-party delegation to the US, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and Guyana, remarked a day earlier, that “for the first time India violated the Line of Control and carried out a surgical strike,” which led to a war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 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.”

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The BJP wasted no time recalling and sharing 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.

While speaking 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, to insist that the BJP did not object to the Congress claiming surgical strikes.

Congress outlined that the first surgical strike under their government was on 19 June 2008 in Bhattal Sector, Poonch. The second strike was in Sharda sector from August 30. The third strike was on 6 January 2013, and the fourth strike was on July 27-28, 2013. The fifth surgical strike was in August 2013, while the sixth was carried out at Neelam Ghati on January 14, 2014.

Surjewala noted that even former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had mentioned 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.

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Tharoor's response came a day after Congress leader Udit Raj accused him of being "disingenuous" and of undermining the "golden history" of the Congress Party, and then saying that he would recommend that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make Tharoor a "super spokesperson of the BJP" or India's foreign minister.

In another dig at Congress, Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju challenged the Congress 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 downplay the whole situation. “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.

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