Surgical strike row: Congress starts election campaign with a bang

Surgical strike row: The Congress party was putting its heart and soul into flabbergasting the populace with its renewed image. The youth icon of the party has been repackaged and relaunched in a new avatar, flaunting his ‘toxic Marxist masculinity’ in a ‘white t-shirt’. From a vantage point, the congress party has adopted a new strategy of dodging controversial issues ever since the alleged Bharat Jodo Yatra started. But no sooner than the grand old party started to gain traction, Congress veteran Digvijay Singh has once again rekindled controversy.

Congress reaping what it sowed

The statement of the former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh adds up to the long list of public blabbering approaches of the veteran leader. Significantly, the statement illustrates that the congress leaders are reduced to a bunch of ‘regressive self-proclaimed geniuses’. They can’t even gauge the political tide of the nation. The statement is receiving fierce feedback on the social media landscape and will clog up the efforts of the party to regain popularity amid the masses.

More interestingly, the public perception about the credibility of the Congress party has stooped to an ultimate low. The citizens find it hard to even consider the ‘Nehruvian dynasts’ worthy enough of taking on the Modi-led BJP. Every time national elections approach, a flurry of illogical and anti-army remarks of the congress leaders starts to come out. As a consequence, the general perception of the party has been greatly hampered. The nationalist masses don’t see any hope in the leadership of the Gandhi-Nehru family.

Rahul Gandhi, who has himself become the brand ambassador of public mockery in the national discourse, has distanced himself from the statement of Digvijay Singh.

Also read: Kharge is leading Karnataka’s Congress to its political grave

Digvijay insane blabber

While addressing a public gathering in Jammu during the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, Digvijay Singh got carried away with his divisive agenda. He went on to say that the BJP-led Union government talks about the surgical strike conducted across the Line of Control with Pakistan but has failed to furnished any proof to back its claim.

He said, “They talk about the surgical strike. And claim that we killed so many people. But there is no proof. Keval jhoot ka pulinda se yah raj kar rahe hain (They are only peddling a bundle of lies).” The statement has put the party in a spot of bother by raising doubts about the 2016 surgical strike.

However, the Congress party has distanced itself from the comments calling it his personal opinion. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that “The views expressed by senior leader Digvijay Singh are his own and do not reflect the position of Congress. Surgical strikes were carried out before 2014 by the UPA government. Congress has supported & will continue to support all military actions that are in the national interest.”

Congress suffering from short-term memory loss syndrome

The Congress party seems to have been suffering from ‘short-term memory loss syndrome’. The party is making lame claims so as to dodge the issue. But it is not the first time the Congress leader has questioned and ‘disrespected the Armed Forces’. More so, he was not alone. Several other Congress leaders have abused the valour of the Indian Army. Back then the Mumbai Congress Chief, Sanjay Nirupam, argued that “every Indian wants surgical strikes against Pakistan but not a fake one to extract just political benefit by the BJP.”

Even Rahul Gandhi did not miss out on the opportunity to boost the morale of his party members. He went on to insult PM Modi by accusing him of profiteering from the strikes. Rahul Gandhi at that time at a rally in Delhi said, “Jo hamare jawan hain, jinhone apna khoon diya hai Jammu Kashmir main … jinhone Hindustan ke liye surgical strike kiya hai, unke khoon ke peeche aap chupe hue ho. Unki aap dalali kar rahe ho. Yeh bilkul galat hai (Our soldiers who have shed their blood in Jammu and Kashmir, who have conducted the surgical strikes, you are hiding behind their blood. You are profiteering from them).”

The statements suggest that time and again the Congress party had been giving political freebies to the BJP to capitalize for electoral gains. Once again the statement Digvijay Singh has thrown the congress party on the back foot and the grand old party is gasping for breath to defend itself against the fierce criticism of the saffron party.

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia has said, “India will not tolerate if they speak against armed forces. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress hate PM Modi but it seems they have been blinded by the hate to an extent that their dedication to the country has withered away. Gandhi and the Congress do not have trust in our brave armed forces. They repeatedly raise questions and insult the citizens of India and our armed forces.”