Congress-BJP spar again as ex-Army chief Deepak Kapoor joins Rahul-led Bharat Jodo Yatra

Congress and BJP were engaged in a war of words over former Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra with the former on Monday saying the saffron party is "maligning brave hearts" by criticising them for their participation in the yatra.

Gen Kapoor (retired) and several other retired top military officers had joined the Rahul Gandhi-led yatra in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Sunday.

Tweeting a picture of Gen Kapoor with Rahul during the yatra, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said on Sunday, "ex-Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. Kapoor was indicted in the Adarsh scam along with other senior Army officers. The inquiry committee had opined that they may be debarred from holding any Govt position or office for shaming the Armed Forces."

Also Read | Bharat Jodo Yatra getting more response in northern India: Rahul

Congress Social Media and Digital Platforms Chairperson Supriya Shrinate hit back at Malviya on Monday saying, "General Kapoor, a war veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, recipient of PVSM, AVSM, VSM and Sena Medal among a host of other awards, served our nation from 1967 to 2010 for four decades."

"You should be ashamed of yourself for maligning our brave hearts. Pity you and your sorry existence," she said. Gen Kapoor retired as Army chief on 30 September, 2007.

Shrinate got support from Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh who tweeted, "do you really expect anything better from such a sick and depraved (and deprived) mind?"

Congress Media Department Chairman Pawan Khera said, "His (Malviya's) boss had stooped to another level when he accused General Deepak Kapoor and Dr Manmohan Singh of plotting with ISI to defeat him in Gujarat in 2017. Jaitley had to apologise in the House for these remarks."