Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday said that there was nothing wrong in seeking details about the surgical strikes.
“Even today, I am asking for the proof [of surgical strikes],” he said, while speaking a press conference in Hyderabad. “Let the government of India show [the proof]. The BJP makes false propaganda that is why people are asking for it.”
Rao made the remarks after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on February 11 criticised Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for demanding proof of India’s surgical strike in Pakistan in 2016 and the airstrike in 2019.
At a rally, the Assam chief minister in response asked whether the Bharatiya Janata Party government had ever demanded proof of him being the “son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi”.
The Assam unit of the Congress and several Opposition leaders sharply criticised for his comments. Rao had demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dismiss Sarma as chief minister
On Monday, Rao backed Rahul Gandhi in seeking evidence and said that the BJP was using the surgical strikes as a political tool. “The Army is fighting at the border,” he said. “If anyone is dying, it’s Army personnel, and they should be given credit for it, not BJP.”
‘BJP is undemocractic’
The Telangana chief minister also said that the BJP government was undemocratic and that it should be “driven out at any cost”.
“It is about time that the people had to be awakened on the need for ushering in a new system of governance,” he said at the press conference.
On February 1 too, Rao had called for voting out the BJP government. He said that the BJP needs to be “thrown into the Bay of Bengal”.
On Sunday, Rao said that if necessary he would form a party at the national level to further the cause of democratic governance.
“In a day or two, I might visit Mumbai and discuss the issues at stake with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray,” he said. “Very soon, I will be in Delhi, to wash the BJP’s dirty linen in public.”
When a reporter asked Rao if the Congress would be part of the plan, he said he could not say anything currently.
“I am more interested in the effort to awaken people,” he said. “I am working in this direction. I do not know who will come along with me. But I will play an important role in the shape of things set to emerge in future.”
Rao also accused the saffron party of using WhatsApp to spread misinformation among the masses. “Religious sentiments are being provoked throughout the country,” he said. “We need new thinking and put aside the divisive ideas to move forward.”
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