Ex-Punjab CM Channi Calls Attack on IAF's Convoy 'Stunt', Links It to LS Polls

The terror attack that occurred in the Poonch district of J&K was described by Congress politician and former chief minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, as a "pre-election stunt" by the BJP.

Chandigarh:Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday called the Poonch terror attack in which an IAF soldier was killed and four were injured, a stunt meant to make the BJP win the Lok Sabha elections.

The remark by the former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress candidate Jalandhar parliamentary constituency triggered a row with Union Minister Anurag Thakur asking the Congress leadership to seek apology from the countrymen for insulting soldiers with this deplorable statement.

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa called Channi's statement appalling and disrespectful towards soldiers. Replying to a question on the attack on the Indian Air Force's convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch, Channi said, "'Yeh stuntbaazi ho rahi hai, hamle nahi ho rahe' (These are all stunts, not attacks)."

"Whenever elections are near, such stunts are performed to make the BJP win. There is no truth in it," he said while replying to the question in Jalandhar. Channi is the Congress candidate from the Jalandhar reserve parliamentary constituency. "The BJP knows how to play with people's lives and bodies," he further alleged.

One soldier was killed and four were injured as terrorists ambushed an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch district on Saturday, three weeks ahead of polling in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency. Union Minister Thakur strongly condemned Channi's remarks and asked the Congress whether it will insult soldiers to win elections.

He asked Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the party president to seek an apology over Channi's remarks. "They insult our Army" said Thakur, who was in Jalandhar on Sunday. They question the capability of our Army, he further said while attacking the Congress. Will the Congress will insult our brave soldiers to win elections, he asked.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar also condemned Channi's remarks as "shameful." "Ghastly statement by CWC member Channi belittling the valour of our brave soldiers is no less a crime and an insult to the nation. Channi's shameful statement on the attack on our Air Force personnel in Poonch calling their valour as a stunt shows the bankruptcy and frustration of Channi," he said.

"The nation will not forgive him. He should hang his head in shame. The Congress and its allies should come clean on this issue. They should publically disassociate from his statement and ask him to apologise to the nation immediately," Jakhar said in a post on X.

BJP leader Sirsa said, "I condemn Charanjit Singh Channi's statement of calling the martyrdom of an IAF personnel in Kashmir, "stuntbaazi". "Congress is saying that he was martyred because of elections. This mentality is not just appalling but disrespectful to those who serve our nation," he said.

"Pakistan and Rahul Gandhi continue to support each other while Congress is belittling the sacrifice of our Jawans," Sirsa said in a post on X.