Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday described party MP Digvijaya Singh’s statement that there was no evidence for surgical strikes carried out by the armed forces as ridiculous.

Singh had made the statement during a meeting in Jammu as part of the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Gandhi on Tuesday told reporters that Singh made the remarks in his personal capacity, and the party does not appreciate his views. “I am sorry to say this about a senior leader, but he said a ridiculous thing,” he said.

The Wayanad MP said that the armed forces do not need to provide proof of the work that they carry out.

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“We are absolutely crystal clear – the armed forces do a job, and they do the job exceptionally well,” Gandhi said. “We have complete faith in the Army.”

On being asked whether Singh will face any action for his remarks, Gandhi said that Congress is a democratic party and not a dictatorship.

“It is in the culture of our party to allow conversations and sometimes when those conversations happen people who have extreme views air their views,” Gandhi said. “We think a conversation is very very important. Sometimes, of course, there are people in every conversation who will say ridiculous things.”

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army claimed to have carried out “surgical strikes on terror launchpads” across the Line of Control to neutralise alleged infiltrators the previous night. The strikes followed an attack on an Army base in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri, in which 17 Indian soldiers were killed.

At the meeting in Jammu on Tuesday, Singh said: “They [Centre] talk about surgical strikes and that they have killed so many people, but there is no proof. All they do is spread lies.”

Following this, the Bharatiya Janata Party said that it was “shameful” of Singh to “question the valour and integrity” of the armed forces.