Modi accusing Opposition of demoralising troops is baffling: Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar, Mar 03: Hitting back at the prime minister, for his comments which said that Opposition parties are demoralising India's armed forced by demanding proof of the Balakot air strike, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said that his accusation was "baffling."

"Calling those who question the veracity of Balakot strikes anti national is baffling," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister tweeted.

Mehbooba Mufti, however, warned the opposition not to fall into the trap of changing the election discourse.

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"The entire election discourse should not be changed from pressing issues like demonetisation, GST, unemployment, farmers' distress to these (Balakot) strikes," Mehbooba Mufti said.

"Presently when war frenzy and jingoism in the guise of patriotism is at an all time high, allowing political discourse to be reduced to the Balakot strikes will only help BJP electorally. Its no wonder that the Rafale deal, unemployment , poor eco growth are fading into oblivion," she further said.

"As citizens of this country, we have every right to question the credibility of the Balakot operation. Especially due to government's ambiguity about the details. How does it help the enemies? Only puts the Government of India in a tight spot since they want to exploit this to reap electoral benefits," she added.

Hitting out at opposition parties for questioning the recent air strike in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday the armed forces were busy quelling terror, but the Congress and its allies are not convinced with their act of bravery.

"When the country needed to speak in one voice, 21 opposition parties gathered in Delhi to adopt a resolution condemning us. They are demanding proof from the armed forces for their act of bravery," the PM said at the BJP's Sankalp rally at Gandhi Maidan here.

He alleged that the opposition parties were "conspiring" against him, he said. "While I want to eliminate terror, opposition parties are conspiring to finish me," Modi said. "At a time when our armed forces are fighting enemies across border and within India, some people are making statements to please Pakistan. This is New India, it does not remain silent on killings of its jawans," the prime minister stated.

The statements made by the opposition parties after the preemptive air strike on terror camps have made only people of Pakistan happy, he claimed.

On Saturday, Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh urged the Centre to present evidence of the Indian Air Force's strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed's terror training camps in Pakistan's Balakot.

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"I am not questioning the recent IAF action against Pakistan-based terrorist camps. But pictures of any incident in open space can be accessed through satellite technology. So we should also give evidence, the way the United States government presented evidence of Osama bin Laden's killing before the world," he said.

India conducted air strike at a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26.