New Delhi:Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday came down heavily on former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who alleged that the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy at Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir was an election stunt.
Addressing a public gathering at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi on Wednesday, Singh said, “Recently, a jawan of the Indian Air Force was martyred. But our jawan, displaying courage and valour, neutralised two terrorists immediately.
Congress leader Charanjit Singhji Channi said that it (the terrorist act) was an election stunt. Will we get our army soldiers attacked? What are these people trying to do with the security and self-esteem of the nation? Congress has always been involved in negative politics.”
Channi on Sunday alleged that the terror attack on the IAF convoy was an “election stunt” and “orchestrated” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bolster its prospects in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Poonch goes to the polls on May 25 as part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency.
Corporal Vikky Pahade was killed, and four IAF personnel were injured after armed terrorists attacked a convoy of the force at Lassana Top in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district on Saturday (May 4).
In his address, Singh said that earlier terrorist attacks would take place in almost every state across the country, but since the BJP came to power (in 2014), terrorism has almost been wiped out.
“After our government came to power, terrorism almost stopped in the country, barring some minor incidents. This (Poonach attack) was also an act of terrorism”, he said. Singh further said that under the BJP-led government, a lot of development work has taken place in the country in 10 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.