Former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi’s statement over the Indian armed forces’ surgical strike of 2019, after the Pulwama attack, has sparked a controversy and prompted reactions from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.
Speaking in Hindi, the Congress MP stated that no one saw the surgical strike anywhere.
He said, “If a bomb falls in our country, will no one know about it? They say that we carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan. Nothing happened, no one saw the surgical strikes anywhere, no one came to know about it.”
CWC’s Meeting On Pahalgam Terror Attack
The Congress MP’s statement on the surgical strikes came after the Congress Working Committee (CWC), in a post on the social media platform X, said that it stands in solidarity and support with the 26 families who lost their loved ones in the Pahalgam terror attack.
CWC added that the Indian National Congress believes this is not a time for politics and wrote, “We must rise above partisan divides and send out an unambiguous message that India stands together, and will not be broken.”
The Congress party urged the Central government to act with firmness, strategic clarity, and international coordination to isolate and penalise Pakistan for its “continued export of terror” into India’s territory and wrote, “The masterminds and perpetrators of this cowardly attack must face the full consequences of their actions.”
BJP Hits Back At Charanjit Singh Channi
The Congress MP’s remarks did not go down well with the BJP. The saffron party MP Sambit Patra claimed that the Congress party planned this press conference to take place right after the CWC meeting, where Mallikarjun Kharge would speak about the resolution, while Channi would hold another press conference.
“After the proposals were passed in the meeting, the Congress party held another press conference. This conference was led by former Chief Minister of Punjab and current MP from a bordering state, Charanjit Singh Channi. Strategically, Congress planned this press conference to take place right after the CWC meeting, where Kharge would speak about the resolution, while Channi would hold a parallel press conference,” Patra said.
“During the press conference, Channi stated that the surgical strike by the Indian Air Force on Pakistan in 2019, after the Pulwama attack, was wrong and never actually happened,” he added.
Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Friday said that MP Channi’s remarks reflect the ‘old mindset’ of the Gandhi family and Rahul Gandhi.
“Once again, the Congress party has questioned our armed forces. Congress leader and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi has said he doesn’t believe in the surgical strike. This reflects the same old mindset of the Gandhi family and Rahul Gandhi, repeatedly casting doubt on our Army and Air Force, accusing them of lying, while trusting Pakistan’s narrative,” he said.
Speaking to IANS, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that Congress should be renamed to “Anti-National Congress.”
He said, “Today, the Congress party should be renamed from INC to ANC, Anti-National Congress. The only identity of the Congress is to continuously insult the Army, ‘Sena ka karo lagataar apmaan, Pakistan ko bulao apna bhaijaan (insult the Army continuously and call Pakistan your brother)’. In the all-party meeting, they say they stand with the nation and the Army and demand strict action. But the moment they step out, they let vote bank politics override national interest.”
This controversy comes days after the Congress shared a post on X with an apparent jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which the grand old party deleted later following the backlash amid border tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.
