Rahul calls Modi khoon ki dalali

In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused him of profiteering from the blood of soldiers who carried out surgical strikes.

“You are hiding behind our soldiers who have shed their blood in Jammu and Kashmir and carried out surgical strikes. You are profiteering from their sacrifices (khoon ki dalali). This is wrong,” Rahul said at a public meeting at the end of the nearly 3,500-km Kisan Yatra that traversed through poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Rahul’s jibe drew an angry reaction from the BJP, with several leaders saying that the Congress vice president was speaking out of “frustration”.

Rahul’s remarks were reminiscent of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s maut ka saudagar comment targeted at Modi, who used it to his political advantage. “Rahul is speaking out of frustration. He is unable to digest the praise Modi is getting for the surgical strikes,” BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Only last week, Rahul had praised Modi for carrying out the surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads. He had said it was for the first time since assuming office Modi had done a job befitting the office of the prime minister.

However, the Congress appeared to be under immense pressure after the groundswell of support for the Modi government in the aftermath of the surgical strikes.

Rahul’s remarks came on a day when Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar rejected demands for providing evidence of the strikes while addressing two separate rallies in UP.

“The Indian Army has done its job, you do your work,” Rahul told Modi and accused him of not fulfilling the promises he made during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.