BJP slams Rahul for ‘hugplomacy’ remark, says Modi govt succeeded in isolating Pakistan
NEW DELHI : Hitting back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP said on Saturday that its government had succeeded in isolating Pakistan over terrorism, while the UPA treated it as a victim state and let it off lightly.
“What Modi government is facing today and trying to find a resolution to an outcome of is the cumulative acts of omission and commission committed by the Congress party government from the very first PM (Jawaharlal Nehru),” Union Minister Jitendra Singh said.
“Last 2-3 years, the Modi government has followed a very decisive policy based on clarity, conviction and consistency as far as dealing with terror is concerned. And Prime Minister successful foreign outreach has seceded in isolation Pakistan,” he added.
On the other hand, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao accused the Congress and Rahul of “repeatedly betraying the country by pandering to anti-India elements” and cited their alleged questioning of surgical strikes to make his point.
“While the Manmohan Singh government treated Pakistan as a victim state and let it off lightly, PM Modi has succeeded in isolating and cornering Pakistan as ‘terroristan’ not just in the region but globally and in all international fora like the UN, G20, BRICS, ASEAN, etc,” he said.
Rao referred to a number of incidents, including a Congress leader’s reference to the Army Chief as a street thug and Gandhi’s alleged support to groups that had alleged raised anti-India slogans during the JNU controversy, and said these incidents are symptomatic of the Congress support for anti- India sentiments.
“The statements of Congress leaders eulogising and praising Burhan Wani and their solidarity for separatists clearly show their sympathies for pro-Pakistan elements. It is a tragedy that a party which ruled India for six decades has compromised with the terrorist groups that have bled India for the sake of appeasing a minority vote bank,” he said.
The reaction by BJP came after Rahul took a dig at PM Modi following the release of 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind and Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest, saying that the former’s ‘hugplomacy’ with US President Donald Trump failed.
Gandhi was referring to PM Modi’s bonhomie with US President Donald Trump during his last visit to the US when the two leaders were seen hugging each other several times. A Pakistani judicial body had on November 22 ordered the release of Saeed from house arrest. He had been under detention since January 2017.
Rejecting the government’s plea to extend his detention for another three months, the Judicial Review Board of Punjab province comprising judges of the Lahore High Court had unanimously ordered Saeed’s release on the completion of his 30-day house arrest.
(With ANI and PTI inputs)
