Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday tore into the Congress and other Opposition parties and said those who did nothing after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks were asking for proof for the air strikes on terror camps operating out of Pakistan.
Addressing party workers here, Ms. Sitharaman said the government asked Pakistan to clamp down on terrorist camps and their activities and furnished evidence of they carrying out attacks in India. “It did nothing, and after Pulwama attack in which India lost 40 of its sons, the response was muted though the terror groups themselves claimed that they did it,” she said.
Referring to India’s response, she it was a non-military, preventive strike to prevent any further terrorist attack, she added. Action was taken against terrorist camps as the country could not sit back and watch; and the Congress was now asking for proof, she said.
Without mentioning any political party, the Defence Minister said some people in the country were speaking the same language as that of Pakistan and they were being quoted in the country’s media, and dubbed it as a misinformation campaign.
She accused the Congress of using deplorable language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi while levelling allegations of corruption against him. “The BJP when it was in the Opposition did not use that kind of language when the CAG suspected loss to the exchequer in various scams that broke out during the UPA regime. This is because the Congress is desperate for power, without which it is like a fish out of water,” she added.
‘Congress perturbed’
Mr. Sitharaman said the NDA government under Mr. Modi had proved that the government can work without kickbacks, commissions, middlemen, and this has perturbed them. It was out of desperation that the Congress was talking of Rafale, corruption etc. though the CAG and the Supreme Court has not found fault with it, and their allegations were falling flat, she added.
She urged the party workers to highlight the welfare measures launched by the NDA government and fight the misinformation campaign of the Opposition parties.