Rahul Gandhi today accused Pakistan of being responsible for the Uri terror attack while apportioning blame on the NDA government's "politics" for it.
"The first responsibility is on Pakistan and the government's politics," he told reporters referring to the attack on the brigade headquarters near the Line of Control in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed.
The Congress vice president said while the UPA government spent nine years fighting terrorism and curbing it, the BJP-PDP alliance has "opened space" for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
"short-sighted" political alliance with the PDP "opened the space" for terrorism in Kashmir.
"I stand by our soldiers and I condemn what has been done to them by the Pakistanis. However, the space for that has been created by the politics that the NDA has carried out in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Alleging that the NDA had "no strategy" as regards Kashmir, Gandhi targeted the Prime Minister, saying he "goes from one event to another and this is no way of handling national security".
"National security cannot be handled like public meetings. This is a serious matter," he said.
In a tweet, the Congress vice president said, "FYI Modiji: a Kashmir strategy cannot be developed using selfies and sound bites."
Recalling his meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sometime back, Gandhi claimed he categorically told him that the country was heading towards a "very serious trouble" in Kashmir.
"The Finance Minister brushed me aside and told me there was no problem in Kashmir," he said.
Gandhi said Congress was ready to help in "whatever way possible".
"However, we would like a concrete strategy, a long-term strategy. Not this event-based activities. Because, this is extremely dangerous for the country," he said.
(REOPENS DEL 77)
Earlier, at Konch (Jalaun) yesterday, Rahul paid homage to the soldiers who lost their lives in the Uri terror attack and also observed a two-minute silence in their memory.
The Congress leader continued his attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, asking him why did he "tolerate" corrupt ministers for over four years and was again taking them back after dismissing them.
He also criticised the BSP, saying that its "elephant ate away all the money meant for development" and accused the BJP of "instigating riots for winning elections".
"If there is any party which can challenge the BJP, it is the Congress which takes everyone along," he stressed.
