Cong attacks BJP over "Bharat ke Veer" fund

Mounting a fresh offensive against the BJP government on the first anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack, the Congress on Friday accused it of using the sacrifice of soldiers for electoral gains and asked who benefited the most from the strike.

New Delhi:The first anniversary of the Pulwama attack saw Congress making scathing attack on the central government and raising questions relating to the government's accountability and non-utilization of a fund created for the martyrs' prosperity.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill raised questions over "Bharat ke Veer" fund accusing BJP of not extending any support to the family of those martyred in Pulwama attack.

Shergill further blamed BJP and said that by the end of June in 2019, Rs 250 crores had been collected in "Bharat Ke Veer" fund which is managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and is supervised by Amit Shah but the families haven't received any kind of monetary support from the government so far.

"While the investigation was handed over to NIA, who supplied the explosives and how can such a heinous thing happen under the nose of government. What were the intelligence unit and security forces doing?" Shergill said.

The Congress leader said the BJP had betrayed the families by not fulfilling the promises of a government job and Rs 25 lakh to their next of kin.

"BJP focus is only on vote security and not on national security. BJP after 26/11 not only did a press conference but also printed posters with blood of the sacrifice of our soldiers, asking for votes," the spokesperson said.

The Congress leader moreover said that the fund witnessed 12-time increase in donations after the Pulwama attack but the money did not reach the intended beneficiaries.

Last year on 14 Feb, around 40 CRPF personnel were killed when their convoy was hit by the suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama dstrict. (With inputs from PTI)