Urging parties not to politicise the issue of surgical strikes, BJP President Amit Shah also lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying he was the first among the "anti-India" leaders to raise questions on the army's action.
Terming as "very unfortunate" the Congress leader's use of word "dalali for soldiers", he alleged it depicted the Congress' mindset as as the word is synonymous with the opposition party whose leaders were "embroiled in several scams worth thousands of crores of rupees".
Shah said "Gandhi's remarks depict the Congress party's mindset. There is a flaw in the thought process of the Congress leadership. I strongly criticise his remarks. The word dalali should be restricted to Congress party only."
He said the remarks have "angered" the people and have "demoralised" the forces.
In a jibe at the Congress vice-president, Shah said he should concentrate on the "potato factory" for farmers instead as his understanding of the problems of agriculture sector is limited to that only.
Responding to a poser on some BJP leaders creating a hype on the strikes, he said some workers were only exhibiting their excitement and questioned why there is was no such excitement in the Congress leadership.
The BJP chief urged all parties not to politicise the issue but said the BJP would take the issue to the masses to build up the confidence of the armed forces.
"We have not claimed the surgical strikes. The army did it. Army and not the politicians should claim credit," he said.
Gandhi had yesterday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of "hiding behind the blood of soldiers" and said that he was selling off their sacrifices for political benefit.
"Jinhone Hindustan ke liye surgical strike kiye hain, unke khoon ke peeche aap chhupe hain. Unki aap dalali kar rahe ho. Yeh bilkul galat hai. {You (Modi) are hiding behind the blood of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir and those who carried out the surgical strikes for India. You are exploiting their sacrifices, which is very wrong}," Gandhi had said.
"We do not believe in the questions raised by some parties, but we believe in the army's actions... It (remarks on strikes) is a very condemnable act and all political parties should desist from doing so," he said.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
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