Support surgical strikes, but not use of Army in political propaganda: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Facing flak for his 'dalali' remarks on surgical strikes, Rahul Gandhi today said he has "unequivocally" supported the military action but is against the use of army in political posters and propaganda by BJP.

"I fully support the surgical strikes and I have said so unequivocally, but I will not support using the Indian Army in political posters and propaganda all across the country," the Congress vice president said in a series of tweets.

He had yesterday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of "hiding behind the blood of soldiers" and said that he was politically exploiting their sacrifices.

"Jinhone Hindustan ke liye surgical strike kiye hain, unke khoon ke peeche aap chhupe hain. Unki aap dalali kar rahe ho. Yeh bilkul galat hai. {You (Modi) are hiding behind the blood of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir and those who carried out the surgical strikes for India. You are exploiting their sacrifices, which is very wrong}," Rahul had said.

Watch: Rahul Gandhi 'insults' Narendra Modi, says he is doing 'Dalali'

His 'dalali' barb has drawn strong reaction from BJP which called it "a new low in Indian politics". Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and other parties have also criticised the Congress leader's remarks. Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijay Singh lashed out at the BJP leadership, alleging that they were touting the surgical strike on terror launchpads along the LoC as if they did it themselves instead of the army men.

"Modi Amit Shah Parrikar and BJP Leaders are going around as if they have done the Surgical Strike! Give our Army & our Braveheart the Credit," Singh tweeted. Rahul had made the remarks yesterday while addressing a rally here, marking the culmination of his month-long 'Deoria to Delhi kisan yatra' in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.