BJP president Amit Shah on Friday criticised Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his silence on National Conference leader Omar Abdullah’s remark that Jammu and Kashmir should have a separate prime minister.

“Recently, Mr. Abdullah remarked that there should be a separate prime minister for Jammu and Kashmir. Can any country have two prime ministers? Mr. Gandhi has not uttered a word after the statement was made. He has an electoral understanding with the NC,” Mr. Shah said at a meeting at Keonjhar. “Mr. Gandhi, do whatever you can for vote bank, but Kashmir is India’s inseparable part and as long as the BJP is there, no one can separate it from India.”

Mr. Shah reiterated that national security was paramount for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. To drive home his point, he referred to the air strikes launched by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan after the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. “Did you like the response of India or not? The air strikes triggered celebrations across the country, but Mr. Gandhi was not happy. The Opposition alliance wanted talks with Pakistan. Do you favour talks with Pakistan which killed 40 of our jawans? The Congress’s policy towards Pakistan may be indecisive, but we are clear in our approach: We will reply to every bullet from the other side with bombs,” he said.

Mr. Shah urged the voters to return Mr. Modi to power at the Centre and oust the government of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, which he said was characterised by misrule and corruption. If voted to power in the State, the BJP would act against those involved in illegal mining and looting the people’s money through chit fund scams, he said. “Though it possesses huge natural resources, Odisha remains poor, and youths were forced to migrate in large numbers for jobs,” he said.