Congress asking proof of surgical strike 'disrespect to Army': Amit Shah

Amit Shah called on Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to respect the Army's honour

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Sunday likened the Congress Party's demand for proof of the 2016 surgical strike with questioning the valour of the Indian Army and called on Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to respect the Army's honour.

"Within ten days, the Indian Army went to Pakistan, took revenge and came back. Pakistan was left red-faced and Rahul Gandhi was demanding a proof. He asked who saw the surgical strikes taking place. Rahul Bhai, please respect the honour and valour of our jawans guarding the borders," Shah said, addressing a rally in Mahuva, Gujarat.

Recalling the surgical strike that was carried out by the Indian Army in Pakistan, days after the Uri attack in September last year, Shah said that "anger was brewing in the entire nation," but no one expected the government of doing any more than offering platitudes.

"Everyone thought the prime minister would give a statement and things will get over, but this time it wasn't the government of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, rather it was a government chosen by you," he added

Shah further targetted the Congress over Rahul Gandhi's recent series of tweets addressed to Prime Minister Modi seeking an account of developmental work done in Gujarat.

"Every election has an agenda. When Congress comes, ask them what their agenda is. When Rahul Baba comes here, ask him too. He tweets daily and asks Prime Minister Modi. I have the answers. You want the accountability of what happened in past 3.5 years, we too want to know what you did for Gujarat while you were in power for 10 years," Shah said.

Shah took another dig at the Congress Party, which recently lost Amethi in the Uttar Pradesh civic polls, a constituency represented by Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.

"Yesterday, the UP results came out and the Congress Party has been wiped off. They wanted to win Gujarat and lost Amethi," he quipped.