JP Nadda asks Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his stand on Pulwama attack, chides Tejashwi for flaying CM Nitish Kumar

BJP chief JP Nadda said that Rahul Gandhi "used to say that Pakistan was not involved, and we are talking about Pakistan just to trick people."

New Delhi: BJP president JP Nadda on Friday (October 30) said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the country for his stand on the 2019 Pulwama attack in the wake of senior Pakistani minister Fawad Chaudhry's statement that his country was responsible for the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 that claimed lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

In a sensational admission on Thursday, senior Pakistani minister Fawad Chaudhry admitted that his country was responsible for the Pulwama terrorist attack in 2019 that killed 40 CRPF personnel and brought the two countries to the brink of war.

Addressing an election rally in Siwan, Nadda said, "What should I say about the Congress party and Rahul babu. They became Pakistan advocates (Vakil). Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday that 'we did the Pulwama, Imran Khan did the Pulwama. Their minister is saying so in an answer in their National Assembly."

Rahul Gandhi "used to say that Pakistan was not involved, and we (the ruling party) are talking about Pakistan just to trick people", he said, adding "You should apologies to the country."

Notably, 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed on February 14, 2019, when a jeep laden with explosives had hit a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar highway at Lethpora in Pulwama. 

Nadda also attacked Gandhi over his statements on the abrogation of Article 370, alleging that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan used his remarks to argue his country's case in the United Nations.

In another rally at Begusarai, the BJP president threw a "mind lock" jibe at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, chiding him over his constant "landlocked Bihar" swipe at NDA ally and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Assailing the Lalu Prasad-led RJD, he said the party has a history of conducting "Tail Piyawan, Danda Bhanjan" rally, underlining its reputation of preferring muscle power to education.

Nadda said, "These days even Tejashwi Yadav has started saying we will do this, we will do that. But who can trust you in an election?" adding "Those who have done something good in the past will do so in the future. They (RJD) had in the past held 'Tel Piyawan, Danda Bhanjan' rally and in future too they will only wield lathis and do nothing else." 

Nadda's reference to 'Tel Piyawan, Danda Bhanjan' (dipping lathis in oil and wielding them to assert power) was a throwback to an RJD rally in 2003, two years before the party was ousted from power in Bihar. 

The BJP chief, "They have done such things. Now the time has come when the finger only can serve the purpose (to press the lotus button). We don't need lathis." 

He also responded to Tejashwi Yadavs persistent attack on Chief Minister Kumar over his remark that Bihar could not be industrialised as it was "landlocked". "I was just listening...Tejashwi. He said 'its landlocked'. It's not landlocked, your mind is locked. This is not a story of 'landlocked'. Your mind is locked," he mockingly said.

Nadda also said that the Rs 1.25 lakh crore package that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced for Bihar in 2015 has been delivered.

Praising the government over its handling of the coronavirus crisis, he said advanced countries including the US have been shaken by the pandemic, but PM Modi saved Indians from the deadly virus.

He said a world-class, state-of-art medical college is coming up in Begusarai, adding "Could you ever imagine a medical college in Begusarai! Engineering college! Even operating colleges were shut down." 

Attacking the RJD over its record on law and order, he appealed to people to vote for NDA candidates. He also emphasised that the NDA in Bihar only means four parties: the BJP, the JDU), the VIP, and the HAM.

(With Agency Inputs)