Mayawati accuses Centre of trying to cash in on troops' valour

LUCKNOW: A day after Centre released the video clip of the surgical strike carried out by the Indian Armed Forces across the border in September, 2016, BSP chief Mayawati on Friday questioned the timing of video clips. She also accused Narendra Modi government of trying to cash in on the Army's valour for its own political and electoral gains.

Firing a salvo at the Centre a day after PM Modi launched a stinging attack on all three -- the BSP, SP and Congress - during a public rally in Maghar, the BSP chief said that the ruling BJP was trying hide behind the surgical strikes, carried out two years ago, after failing to deliver on every front during the last four years. "If the conscience of the government was clear then the video clips of surgical strikes should have released when it was carried out," said the BSP chief adding that now it seemed to be nothing but a political plot to impress voters and a tactic to divert attention from failures of four years ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The former UP chief minister also accused the BJP of a misinformation campaign. "Nobody has ever doubted the surgical strikes nor sought any evidence from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. We have always praised our troops for conducting surgical strikes and combating terrorism. The BJP government is releasing this video and making it a political issue," she said.

However, the BSP chief expressed confidence that people would not fall prey to BJP political tactics. "People of this country can't be befooled. They are well aware of the political designs of the BJP," she maintained. Notably, the BSP chief equated the BJP with the Congress yet again by claiming that the saffron party was not paying attention to development just like the previous UPA government headed by Congress. Notably, BSP is mulling long-term alliance with the Congress in poll-bound states and also at the national level ahead of 2019 general elections.