PM was busy shooting film in Corbett, had 'chai, samosa' after Pulwama attack: Congress

In a stinging attack, the Congress cited media reports to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued shooting for a film in the Corbett National Park on February 14 for his own "self propagation", and stayed put till the evening despite the Pulwama terror attack in the afternoon that day.

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, addressing a press conference, also claimed that the prime minister continued to "have tea, samosas, at seven o'clock in a PWD guest house when every single Indian household didn't have food".

Taking on the BJP, he also accused its president Amit Shah of indulging in "politicisation of terrorism" in his speech in Assam on Sunday.

At a public rally in Assam's Lakhimpur district, Shah had said the sacrifices of the 40 CRPF personnel will not go in vain as there is a BJP government at the Centre now and it, unlike the previous Congress dispensation, will not "compromise" on any security issue.

Meanwhile, attending a BJP event in Andhra Pradesh's Rajahmundry city on Thursday, Shah hit back at the Congress, saying the opposition party was using the Pulwama terror attack for its "political interests".

"With what face is the Congress raising questions against the Prime Minister? Congress called the Army chief names, it raised doubts over the surgical strikes (on terror havens in Pakistan), it accused the prime minister of trading with soldiers' blood, Congress' (Navjot Singh) Sidhu embraced Pakistan Army chief, the previous Congress president cried when terrorists were killed," Shah said.

Reacting to Shah's remarks later in the day, Surjewala said the BJP president should not forget that it was a Congress government that taught Pakistan lessons in 1947, in 1965 and in 1971.

"Indira Gandhi helped liberate Bangladesh, and 91,000 Pakistani soldiers had surrendered to the Indian Army in Dhaka (in 1971). In contrast, the Modi-Amit Shah duo has always done cheap politics over terrorism and tried to garner votes...

"Amit Shah needs to learn about patriotism. The kind of politics he is indulging in, he should apologise to the country," he told reporters.

Surjewala also said that he would like to remind the BJP president of an incident in which BJP minister V K Singh had called then Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag a "dacoit" and demanded his removal.

At the press conference, the Congress spokesperson Surjewala also alleged that "in his hunger for power, the prime minister has forgotten 'raj dharma' (duty of governance)."