New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi has asked party leaders to visit the families of “martyrs” in the coming days to show solidarity with soldiers, a senior party leader told ThePrint Thursday.
“The Congress president has asked all the party leaders to visit the families and give them their support,” the senior Congress leader said.
“In case they [the families] are facing any difficulties, then they should raise such issues with the authorities too,” the leader added. “A number of leaders are likely to start this today itself.”
The Congress has also cautioned party members to be “extremely sensitive” in their dealings and not cause any inconvenience to the families, the leader said.
The directive comes in light of at least two recent instances where leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) drew censure for their insensitive behaviour at the funerals of two soldiers killed this month, one in the 14 February Pulwama terror attack and the other in a security operation against members of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) four days later.
Earlier this week, Union Minister of State for HRD Satyapal Singh, the MP from Baghpat, angered locals in the village of an Indian Army jawan killed in the security operation by reportedly sitting in the cremation area with his shoes on. Purported video clips from the funeral of the UP native also showed Singh “laughing and chatting” with two leaders accompanying him.
Last week, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj was reportedly seen laughing and waving at bystanders in Unnao as he accompanied the funeral procession of a CRPF trooper killed in the Pulwama attack.
Also read: Congress’ hug-and-wink politics over Pulwama is a recipe for disaster
‘Busy shooting film’
Of the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the 14 February Pulwama attack, a majority were from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Rajasthan and Punjab.
The Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh (west), Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Uttar Pradesh Congress president Raj Babbar were scheduled to visit the families of the slain soldiers but the plan was postponed at the last minute.
“The plan is very much in place but due to some unforeseen circumstances it had to be postponed,” a Congress functionary told ThePrint.
According to another Congress leader, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is the Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern UP, is also likely to draw up a plan to visit the families in March.
On Wednesday, both Rahul and Priyanka had attended a prayer meeting in western Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli for CRPF jawan Amit Kumar Kori, who was killed in the Pulwama strike.
Meanwhile, the Congress Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Pulwama.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said PM Narendra Modi had been “busy shooting a film in Jim Corbett” when the nation was mourning the Pulwama attack. The PM had reportedly made an unscheduled visit to the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand last Thursday, when a suspected JeM suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a CRPF convoy.
“When the whole country was mourning the loss of lives of our jawans in Pulwama attack in the afternoon, PM Narendra Modi was busy shooting for a film in Jim Corbett park till evening. Is there any PM in the world like this? I have no words really,” Surjewala said at a press conference.
The focus on martyrs marks a major shift in the party’s stance since the terror attack. Earlier, Rahul had decided against indulging in politics over the sensitive issue, but security personnel now seem to have taken centrestage in a highly-charged election season.
Among other things, the Congress said Thursday that the PM had not declared a period of national mourning in light of the Pulwama attack as it would have led to their events and programmes getting cancelled.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi says Congress, oppn fully support govt in aftermath of Pulwama attack