Cong leader quits over party's demand for air strike proof

In what could be seen as a jolt to Bihar Congress ahead of the parliamentary election, senior leader and spokesman Binod Sharma resigned on Saturday, contending that the party should not have demanded evidence of Balakot air strike.

In a letter addressed to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Sharma said the party high command has hurt the sentiments of ground-level workers and the common people by raising questions over the "pre-emptive" strike on the terror camps in Balakot, days after the Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy.

The senior leader also said that he wrote to Gandhi several times in the last one month, apprising him of the sensibilities of the party workers in the state, but his requests were not entertained.

Terming the repeated demands for proof of air strike as "shameful and childish", he said, "I am resigning from the Congress with a heavy heart after serving it for 30 years. The party high command has hurt sentiments by breaking the Army's morale, while boosting the spirits of terrorists."