Clash of rallies: Cong to hold 'Jai Hind Sabha' in Jabalpur on day of PM gathering in Bhopal

Bhopal: The Congress in Madhya Pradesh is organising a rally under the banner of its 'Jai Hind Sabha' campaign in Jabalpur on May 31, the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a gathering of women in Bhopal.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bupesh Baghel, among other party leaders, will address the rally in Jabalpur, state Congress media co-ordinator Abhinav Barolia told PTI on Thursday.

The Congress is organising nationwide 'Jai Hind Sabhas' to honour the bravery the armed forces displayed during 'Operation Sindoor' in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The opposition party's programme is being seen as a counter to the BJP's Tiranga Yatras organised across the country recently to honour the bravery of the armed forces and celebrate the success of ‘Operation Sindoor’.

"We are organising the rally in Jabalpur as it was home to large Army establishments and ordnance factories which made Pakistan bite the dust during the four-day 'Operation Sindoor'," Barolia said.

The Congress member said they are also going to highlight Modi's "silence" on objectionable remarks made by Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah, Deputy CM Jagdish Devda and BJP MLA Narendra Prajapati after the military action against terror targets in Pakistan and PoK.

Shah had made objectionable remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, one of the faces of India during media briefings on 'Operation Sindoor' earlier this month, while speaking at a function at Mhow near Indore on May 12.

Though the minister, a tribal face of the BJP and eight-time MLA, later apologised for his comments, the Supreme Court has ordered an SIT probe into the controversial remarks.

Speaking in Jabalpur on May 16, Deputy CM Devda said the Indian armed forces and all soldiers 'bowed down at the feet' of PM Modi for giving a befitting reply to terrorists and Pakistan.

On May 17, MLA Prajapati said the military strikes against Pakistan were stopped because of "orders" from the "UN".

"PM Modi would have finished off Pakistan had we not got orders from the 'UN' to stop," Prajapati had said at the BJP's 'Tiranga Yatra' at Rewa.

State Congress media co-ordinator Barolia said, "It is very hurtful that the BJP was giving credit to Modi for the success of Operation Sindoor instead of praising the valour of our armed forces who have taught a lesson to the rogue Pakistan state." "We are going to bare all this on May 31. The PM, like a salesman, is trying to take all the credit for Operation Sindoor for political gain," he added.

Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi maintained the ruling party is making every effort to ensure Modi's rally for women's empowerment at Bhopal is a grand success.

The Congress rally in Jabalpur is going to turn out to be a damp squib as the opposition party is beset with factionalism in Madhya Pradesh, he claimed.

"The countrymen know the Congress very well for its divisive politics. People admire Modiji for his tit for tat policy in dealing with terrorism and Pakistan," the BJP leader said.