Congress’ Headless Modi Poster on Pahalgam Attack Draws BJP’s ‘Lashkar-e-Pakistan’ Jibe

That Congress' gayab or missing poster was lapped up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack. But soon after, it completely backfired as the party went social with it on Tuesday. The former Pakistani minister's reaction raised eyebrows. This post drew further comparisons to the calls of 'sar tan se juda' during Nupur Sharma's controversy. At this time when all need to be united on the stand of Pahalgam terror attack, the Congress is being "influenced by Pakistan", said leaders.

The response of the opposition in the immediate aftermath of the strike has been subdued. Despite giving unconditional support to the government in whatever action it carried out against the perpetrators and their handlers, the political parties have carefully monitored the signals to hint at intelligence and security lapses.

The Congress leaders, however, had made statements that mandated the grand old party to enforce a gag order.

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BJP leaders had been speaking condemnatory of Congress since the morning, and a rejoinder from the central government came as soon as Chirag Paswan reacted.

Paswan, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, said, “This is wrong. This is a very sensitive issue and it is the responsibility of the opposition to understand the sensitivity of the issue. It is the need of the hour to show seriousness, as shown by J&K CM Omar Abdullah in the Assembly. If parties like the Congress do politics on it, this is not good."

BJP leader Nishikant Dubey went all out against the Congress party and pasted an image of the party symbol (the hand) with Pakistan flag on it.

In his post, Dubey said: “Congress’s hand is with Pakistan’s terrorists and their protectors, the killers of Hindus."

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah delivers his first speech in the House since the attack, said, “For the first time in many years, I witnessed protests that were truly unified. No political party or leader orchestrated them, and no organised banners or candlelight marches were planned. The outrage and grief were spontaneous, coming straight from the hearts of the people. Every mosque observed silence."

Abdullah conceded he erred in his duty to ensure the safe return of the tourists and felt helpless. The Assembly unanimously resolved condemnation of the incident and pledged to thwart the designs of terrorists.

BJP convened a press conference later that day, wherein party leader Gaurav Bhatia detailed the “sar tan se juda" ideology of “Lashkar-e-Pakistan (Congress)".

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“There is a national political party that stays among us, but if we call them Lashkar-e-Pakistan Congress, it won’t be wrong. This image of PM Narendra Modi has been tweeted by the social media handle of Congress. A strong message has been given to Pakistan that in India, the supporters of Mir Jafar are present here…’Sar tan se juda’ has become the ideology of Lashkar-e-Pakistan Congress today…Such posts are done on the instructions of Rahul Gandhi, which makes the country ashamed. It is an attempt of Lashkar-e-Pakistan Congress to weaken India at such a sensitive time," he said.

The official X handle of the Bharatiya Janata Party also reminded of the 'san tan se juda' imagery and branded Congress 'Muslim League 2.0'. “Terror will be met with bullets, not biryani. This is the era of decisive leadership," the BJP said.

Over this, Congress leader Karnataka minister Dinesh Gundu Rao in his clarification stated, that the purpose of the poster was "asking where is the PM" who has not spoken to the press nor made any clarification regarding the Pahalgam attack.

Rao, however, went on to make another controversial statement saying that Pulwama "helped Narendra Modi win Lok Sabha elections", and "Godhra riots helped him win Gujarat poll". “He is now using it (Pahalgam attack) to win Bihar elections. You should think of the country first. This is why the poster was put out. We want him to come and talk to the people," the Congress leader added.

Following the usual playbook for 2016 and 2019, Congress now seems to follow its familiar drumbeat. In the wake of 2016's Pathankot and Uri attacks, and the Pulwama attack of 2019, the Congress had gone after attacking the government orally, talking of failures and contending that ministers concerned couldn't shrug off responsibility and accountability.

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