Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge courted controversy on Tuesday after claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had prior knowledge of the deadly Pahalgam attack. The senior politician contended that the PM had cancelled his program to visit Kashmir after receiving an intelligence report — wondering why the government had not taken steps to protect tourists and civilians.
“I have received information that three days before the attack, an intelligence report was sent to Prime Minister Modi, and based on that, he cancelled his program to visit Kashmir. I also read this in a newspaper. If intelligence could warn that it wasn’t safe for you (the PM) to go there, why didn’t you take proper steps to protect the tourists and civilians?” the Congress President asked.
The remarks have since prompted outrage in the ruling NDA camp — with several leaders lambasting the Congress chief for his “toxic, baseless, unfounded” comments.
“What has happened to Kharge ji…On one hand, during the meeting, they say that they are with the country and on the other hand, they are saying that the PM did not go to Kashmir because he was aware of the attack…This is an unfortunate thing to hear, especially when the country is already going through so much border tension…We do not expect such things at this moment,” BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad told ANI.
“He has made treacherous statements similar to a modern-day Mir Jaffar. His toxic, baseless, unfounded rant against the Prime Minister is most deplorable and condemnable, and Kharge’s remarks are unpardonable, indefensible, and cannot be forgiven. Everybody demands an unconditional apology from him, and he should also come clean on what kind of inputs he received to make such outrageous remarks,” added BJP leader CR Kesavan.
