‘PM Modi Was Busy With Film Shoot When Country Was Picking up Bodies of Martyrs’: Congress on Pulwama Attack

Surjewala alleged that the prime minister continued to "enjoy boat rides" with the camera crew and later ensured that there is slogan shouting by BJP people in his favour there.

New Delhi: Days after Rahul Gandhi said that his party would support the government on the Pulwama terror attack and not politicise the issue, the Congress on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shooting a documentary in the Corbett National Park when the nation was mourning the loss of lives of 40 CRPF jawans who dies in the Pulwama terror attack.

“The terror attack happened at 3:10 pm, but the prime minister was busy shooting for his promotional film till 6:40 pm. 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,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, while addressing the media.

On February 14, PM Modi was on a daylong visit to Uttarakhand. He was slated to inaugurate several development projects and address a rally in Rudrapur. But due to bad weather, he was held up at the Dehrudun airport.

Surjewala alleged that the prime minister continued to “enjoy boat rides” with the camera crew and later ensured that there is slogan shouting by BJP people in his favour there.

“The prime minister continues to eat chai, samosas at seven o’ clock at government expense in a PWD guest house when every single Indian household didn’t eat their food,” the Congress spokesperson said.

On one hand the country was picking up the “pieces of our martyrs”, on the other hand the prime minister was doing his “propaganda and publicity”, he claimed.

“Can such conduct be expected from the prime minister of a country. The prime minister should have been chairing the cabinet committee on security immediately and should have taken action, instead of shooting films,” he said.

Surjewala said that the Congress party had shown restrain as directed by party president Rahul Gandhi, but it was important to raise issues of such conduct that “insults martyrs”.

“The Congress party and the entire nation stands united with our armed forces as also our government in every step that they take in tackling Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. We are determined in that resolve even today,” he said.

The Congress leader said that questions must be asked about the gross intelligence failure of this government and on the “priorities of a prime minister who on a sensitive time like this has gone on a foreign tour to South Korea instead of tackling terrorism”.

Earlier, the Congress hit out at PM Modi over the joint statement issued after his talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying the PM “forgot” to write the name of “terror nourisher” Pakistan in the document.

The statement, issued hours after the Modi-Crown Prince talks, said the two leaders condemned the Pulwama terror attack in the strongest possible terms and called on all countries to renounce the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. However, it did not name Pakistan in this context.