Amit Shah slams Congress over Sam Pitroda's comments, 'vote-bank politics', poses three questions to Rahul Gandhi

BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Congress in response to party leader Sam Pitroda's remarks on the Pulwama terror attack. Shah focused his criticism squarely on Congress president Rahul Gandhi as he placed three questions to be answered by the party chief. “ Does the Congress think terrorist attacks like that incident in Pulwama are ordinary? The Congress president should answer,” Shah said. On Friday, Pitroda — chairman of the Overseas Indian National Congress — said that attacking Pakistan with an airstrike was “not the right approach” in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack as he advocated that talks should be held with the neighbouring country. Pitroda also said that it is “naive” to blame the whole nation (Pakistan) for an attack undertaken by eight people, referring to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

BJP President Amit Shah: Who do you (Rahul Gandhi) support? Doubting the Indian Air Force is not right for the national president of any party. You stand in support when slogans are raised against the country in JNU, and call it the freedom of expression. pic.twitter.com/xoBasGtEja

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2019

In response, Shah said, " Does the Congress believe that the Pakistan government and military has a connection with the terrorist attacks in India? If yes, then who is the culprit? We need an answer from Rahul Gandhi." Shah also dismissed the route of peace talks and said that “many” terrorist attacks had happened during the UPA’s — “Sonia-Manmohan” — reign, and the then-government had engaged in talks, but to no avail. The BJP president then slammed the party for “vote bank politics”, saying that the people of the country had seen the true face of the party for its “appeasement politics”, which is why it had been “sidelined”. “When elections are near, vote-bank politics and appeasement politics are the tradition of the Congress party. It has sowed the seed of appeasement politics in the country. Can vote-bank politics be prioritised above national security?” Shah also criticised the Opposition for “questioning” the IAF’s strikes in Pakistan’s Balakot. “Who do you (Rahul Gandhi) support? Doubting the Indian Air Force is not right for the national president of any party. You stand in support when slogans are raised against the country in JNU, and call it the freedom of expression,” he said. The Narendra Modi-led government has been successful in taking a “strong stand against terrorism” in the international community, Shah said, adding that the previous governments “didn’t have the guts” to give terrorists a tough reply. With inputs from agencies