‘Whenever There is a Big Election…’ Congress Leader Questions Timing of Army’s Cross-Border Strikes

In a statement that is likely to stir up a political debate, Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh has questioned the timing of the Indian Army’s attack on terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir just a day before assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.

“Whenever there is a big election, a pattern of surgical strike is visible in Narendra Modi’s government. Now politics of this country will be played on surgical strike. They want to divert people’s attention from real issues,” the former MP from Bihar told reporters on Sunday.

National security has been the major plank for the BJP in the assembly election campaign, just like in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. Observers had said the saffron party benefited post-Balakot strike as terror dominated the voters’ concerns.

The Indian Army, retaliating for unprovoked firing by the Pakistan Army on Saturday night, had launched heavy artillery attacks on four terror launch situated inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir opposite the Tangdhar Sector, killing six Pakistan Army soldiers and dozens of terrorists, government sources have said.

An Indian Army official said Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violations to assist infiltration by terrorists into Indian territory. One civilian and two soldiers were killed, and three other civilians injured, in the firing by Pakistan.

"As a result calibrated escalation of area weapons was undertaken by the Indian side in which terrorist launch pads and several Pakistan Army posts giving incidental protection to these launch pads and certain gun positions were hit," the official said.

The action comes at a sensitive time, a day before two states – Maharashtra and Haryana – go to polls and bypolls are held in several states.

Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi, supporting the Indian Army's actions against terror outfits, had tweeted: "Another spectacular campaign by the mighty Indian Army against terrorist camps across the border. We are proud of your valour and courage."