Amid criticism from opposition parties against BJP for trying to draw political mileage from ongoing conflict Indo-Pak conflict, differences surfaced in the ruling saffron outfit with Union Minister Gen (Retd) V K Singh slamming party colleague B S Yedddyurappa for making political statements on India’s aerial strike,
” BSY ji (Yedddyurappa), I beg to differ. We stand as one nation, action taken by our
government is to safeguard our nation and ensure safety of our citizens, not to win a few extra seats,” Gen (Retd) Singh tweeted in reference to former Karnataka Chief Minister’s reported statement that the Air Force action will help BJP win 22 seats in the southern state.
Media reports have quoted Mr Yeddyurappa as saying that the air-strikes carried out by the IAF on the terror camps in Pakistan will help BJP win at least 22 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka out of 28.
In the 16th Lok Sabha, BJP has 16 Lok Sabha seats.
Gen Singh, at present the Minister of State for External Affairs and a former Army Chief, also posted a link of video of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s speech in Lok Sabha in 1996 wherein Vajpayee had said that whenever occasion came even as an opposition party BJP has always cooperated with the government of the day.
Late Vajpayee’s speech specifically referred to his leading the Indian delegation at UN meet in Geneva in 1994 when Congress veteran P V Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister.
“….Seeing me in Geneva leading the Indian delegation, even Pakistanis were surprised as in their country, an opposition leader would not stand with the government of the day,” Vajpayee had said in his much popular speech on May 28, 1996 during the debate on trial of strength of his 13-day long government.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday night, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had tweeted saying: “The whole nation has spoken in one voice. Why, then is India’s opposition alleging that the Government is politicising our Anti-Terror Operations”. (UNI)
