Rahul dubs Modi ‘prime time minister’; BJP hits back

New Delhi, February 22

The war of words between the Congress and the BJP over the Pulwama terror attack escalated on Friday with Rahul Gandhi calling Narendra Modi “prime time minister” for allegedly continuing with a photoshoot when the nation was grappling with pain, while the BJP slammed the Opposition party for “indulging in petty politics”.

In a tweet with the hashtag ‘PhotoShootSarkar’, Gandhi said the Prime Minister continued shooting for a film till even three hours after news of the Pulwama terror strike came in.

Citing media reports, the Congress has alleged that Modi was attending a photoshoot for a film at the Corbett National Park on February 14, and he continued to participate in the shoot even after the terror attack which took place at around 3.10 pm.

At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari cited DD News footage to claim that the Prime Minister addressed a rally in Uttarakhand at 5:10 pm via phone. He said Modi must tell what he was doing in the initial two hours after the Pulwama terror strike and alleged that he was either “completely oblivious” to the incident or “insensitive”.

BJP hits back

Hitting back at the Congress for its attack, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said some political parties are “not standing with the country” for petty politics when nations across the world have backed India.

Patra dismissed as lies the Congress’s claim that Prime Narendra Modi was either “completely oblivious” to the terror strike or “insensitive” as he “continued” with his prior engagements after the attack, and asserted that such lies need not be responded to.

The Congress president tweeted: “Even after three hours of the news of the 40 jawans being martyred in the Pulwama terror strike, the prime time minister continued with a film shooting.”     “There was an ocean of pain in the country’s heart and in the homes of martyrs, and he (Modi) was smiling while at a photo shoot in the waters,” Gandhi wrote on the microblogging site and attached four photographs of the prime minister purportedly showing him during the shoot.

The BJP dismissed Gandhi’s claim that Modi attended a photoshoot allegedly hours after the Pulwama attack as “fake news”, asserting that photographs were taken in the morning.

“Rahul Ji, India is tired of your fake news. Stop sharing photos from that morning to shamelessly mislead the nation. Maybe you knew in advance of the attack but people of India got to know in the evening. Try a better stunt next time, where sacrifice of soldiers isn’t involved,” the BJP tweeted.

Tewari, in his remarks, claimed the Prime Minister not only addressed the rally but continued with the photoshoot at the Corbett National Park in the hours following the terror strike in which 40 CRPF jawans died after a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the paramilitary force’s convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. PTI