NEW DELHI: BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Saturday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of putting “family interests above national interest” while defending Operation Sindoor. He cited Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s remarks to counter Opposition criticism of the military operation.In a post on X, the BJP leader wrote: “Once again a fact check for Rahul Gandhi & his ilk like Prithviraj Chavan from Shashi Tharoor. Shows them a mirror on their fake narratives about Op Sindoor & ‘surrender’ narrative.”
Referring to comments made earlier by Tharoor, Poonawalla said even leaders from the Opposition had acknowledged that national security issues should rise above partisan politics.“Foreign policy is not of the BJP or Congress, but of India. If someone in politics rejoices at the defeat of a Prime Minister, they are celebrating the defeat of India.”Using the remark to attack the Congress leadership, Poonawalla added: “Sadly Rahul Gandhi puts parivarik interest above India’s interest. In his hatred for BJP — he hates India.”This is not the first time the BJP spokesperson has cited Shashi Tharoor to target the Opposition. Earlier, Poonawalla had referred to Tharoor’s article criticising dynastic politics to take aim at the Gandhi family and the Congress leadership. Describing the piece as “insightful”, Poonawalla had hailed the Congress MP as a “Khatron ke Khiladi” for openly questioning political succession within his own party.
‘Completely defeated’: Prithviraj Chavan after Operation Sindoor
The BJP’s sharp response comes amid a political storm triggered by remarks from senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who earlier this month claimed that India was “completely defeated” on the first day of Operation Sindoor.Speaking to reporters in Pune, Chavan had said: “On the first day (of Operation Sindoor) we were completely defeated. In the half-hour aerial engagement that took place on the 7th, we were fully defeated, whether people accept it or not. Indian aircraft were shot down. The Air Force was completely grounded, and not a single aircraft flew.”He further questioned the nature of modern warfare and the size of India’s armed forces.“Recently, we saw during Operation Sindoor, there was not even a one-kilometre movement of the military… Whatever happened over two or three days was only an aerial war and missile warfare. In such a situation, do we really need to maintain an army of 12 lakh soldiers, or can we make they do some other work?”The comments drew strong criticism from the BJP, which accused the Congress of repeatedly undermining the armed forces. Responding on X earlier, Poonawalla had said the statements were “shocking” and alleged that the Congress had a history of questioning military actions, adding: “Sena ka apman is Congress ki pehchaan.”Chavan, however, refused to apologise for his remarks, insisting that he had a constitutional right to question government actions.“Why will I apologise? It is out of the question. The Constitution gives me the right to ask questions,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi cites Donald Trump on Operation Sindoor
The BJP has also linked the controversy to Rahul Gandhi’s earlier remarks on Operation Sindoor, in which the Congress leader cited US President Donald Trump’s claims and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi halted military action under external pressure.Gandhi had said: “Trump dialled PM Modi and said: Sunn… yeh jo tu kar raha hai isko 24 ghante ke andar band kar… aur Narendra Modi ne paanch ghante ke andar saara ka saara rok diya.” (Listen… whatever you’re doing, stop it within 24 hours, and Narendra Modi stopped everything within five hours.)The government has repeatedly rejected this claim. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Parliament that Prime Minister Modi and Trump had no calls during the period in question, while PM Modi himself said in the Lok Sabha: “No world leader asked for suspension of Operation Sindoor.”Operation Sindoor was launched by India on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 civilians were killed.
