Mumbai: Refuting opposition’s allegations that the ruling BJP is politicising the valour shown by the armed forces in the Balakot surgical strike, union minister for defence Nirmala Sitharaman said that there was nothing wrong in talking about strong political will of the government in dealing with terror attacks.
Sitharaman was interacting with the media at the BJP’s Mumbai unit office in Dadar on Thursday. She said, “The previous Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had failed to take decisive action against 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
If that government had taken action after the Mumbai attack, the situation in the country would have been different.” The minister stated that following the 2016 Uri and 2019 Pulwama terror attacks, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government took strong steps against Pakistan.
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“The Union government gave a free hand to the armed forces to take action as it deemed fit. While the armed forces are capable of taking decisive action, it is the issue of the need for a strong political will. After the Mumbai terror attacks, Congress hesitated in taking any counter measures whereas the BJP-led NDA government does not tolerate any such terror attacks and takes strong decisive action,” she added.
Replying to queries about Congress president Rahul Gandhi still raking up corruption charges in the Rafale deal despite tendering an apology before the Supreme Court, Sitharaman remarked that in its December verdict the apex court had cleared the Rafale deal on the issues of procurement, pricing and process.
