Congress, PTI condemn BS Yeddyurappa's comment on air strikes; Karnataka BJP leader says remarks being taken out of context

Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa was in hot water on Thursday following his comments which said that the air strike carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Pakistan on Tuesday  will help the BJP win 22 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Various parties and party leaders respectively have condemned Yeddyurappa’s comments, accusing him of being focussed on politics during the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan. Following the backlash, Yeddyurappa took to Twitter to clarify his statement and wrote:

His tweet comes amid heavy condemnation from the political spectrum, even from Pakistan. The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) took note of the statement and said that those “desperate” to win an election should be “isolated”:

The party also hit out at the BJP for “equating” the “Air Force excursions, war mongering, soldiers in captivity and the lives of so many people in danger” with winning 22 Lok Sabha seats:

Meanwhile, on the Indian front, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala reiterated the Opposition’s claim that the BJP is “blatantly politicising” the killings of armed personnel:

Surjewala’s tweet is in reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s statement on Wednesday, who expressed the collective anguish of 21 Opposition parties over the BJP’s “blatant politicisation” of the killings of Indian armed personnel. The Opposition leaders also released a written statement . Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, and former chief minister Siddaramaiah also joined in the attack against Yeddyurappa:

Many other Congress leaders also condemned his comments:

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also hit out at Yeddyurappa over his statement: