Kharge remarks break political consensus post Pahalgam

The “consensus” at the all-party meeting called after the Pahalgam terror attack over taking all appropriate steps against Pakistan did not last long with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge saying the government has admitted to an intelligence failure and claimed — without offering any proof apart from quoting alleged media reports — that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had received the reports.

He blamed the government for lapses at a rally at Ranchi and claimed that the intelligence report was the reason for the Prime Minister “cancelling” a visit to Jammu and Kashmir. “There is intelligence failure, government has accepted it and they will resolve it. If they knew this, why didn’t they do anything?…I got information that 3 days before the attack, an intelligence report was sent to PM Modi and therefore he cancelled his programme to visit Kashmir, I also read this in a newspaper…,” ANI quoted Kharge.

Kharge further alleged that the so-called intelligence tip off should have been conveyed to the Jammu and Kashmir police and security forces.

The allegations levelled by the Congress president came days after the party asked its leaders to be careful about utterances on the Pahalgam attack after some functionaries even questioned whether the victims were actually segregated on basis if religion.

Bharatiya Janata Party responded by saying Kharge’s remarks betray the party’s actual orientation and lift the veil over the pretence of national unity offered at the all party meeting

ANI reported BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla, “True face of vote bank politics has come to light. They were saying in the all-party meeting that they stand with the country, with the government, and with the army. But after the all-party meeting, they continuously displayed pro-Pakistan behaviour—giving a clean chit to Pakistan, raising questions on the morale of our armed forces, and portraying such remarks as personal opinions.

“But today, Mr Kharge has made it clear that this is the official stand of the Congress party… Making baseless allegations without any factual basis has become a habit of the Congress. Look, ever since Pakistani YouTubers have been banned, the Congress party has officially become the content creator for Pakistan…”

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