'BJP trying to replace military emblem with party logo'

Hitting out at the BJP for allegedly politicising the air strike in Pakistan, the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday said it was trying to replace the Ashoka emblem on the uniform of armed forces with party logo.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should stop taking credit for the preemptive strike on terror camps in Pakistan as armed forces belong to India, not to the saffron party, Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Derek O'Brien said.

"The BJP is shamelessly trying to replace the Ashok Stambh (emblem) on the armed forces' uniform, with their party logo. Not a single opposition leader has politicised the airstrike, it was just the BJP who did it.

"The armed forces are India's pride. We are always with them, but we will oppose the incumbent government, whose expiry date is over," O'Brien, who is also the TMC parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha, said.

BJP national president Amit Shah said on Saturday that those who did not have the courage to avenge the killing of soldiers, when in power, were raising doubts on the recent air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps for "cheap politics" and their statements have made Pakistan happy.

Two days before Shah's assertion, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had demanded evidence of the Indian Air Force (IAF) air strike.

She also said that the opposition parties wanted to know the details of the operation.