NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit’s comment on former PM Manmohan Singh’s “not strong” response to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack stirred controversy on Thursday, with the BJP and the AAP using her remark to target the Congress.
During an interview to a news channel, Dikshit was questioned about national security and the government’s retaliation after the Pulwana attack, and she purportedly stated Singh’s response perhaps was not strong in comparison to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s in tackling terror attacks.
BJP president Amit Shah tweeted that what Dikshit had said was already known to the people. “Thank you @SheilaDikshit ji for reiterating what the nation already knows but the Congress party is never ready to admit,” Shah tweeted.
As her statement caused a political storm, Dikshit clarified on Twitter that her comment had been twisted and used out of context. The three-time chief minister also said Modi was trying to get political mileage in the name of strong retaliation against terrorism. “I have seen some media is twisting my comments made in an interview. Here is what I said—it may seem to some people that Mr Modi is stronger on terror, but I think this is a poll gimmick more than anything else..,” she tweeted.
Journalist Vir Sanghvi, who interviewed Dikshit, came out in her support. He said her comment should not be read out of context. “I did the interview in question. She is absolutely right. Let’s not take what she said out of context and twist it,” Sanghvi tweeted.
AAP national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said Dikshit’s statement praising Modi was really surprising and indicated something was going on between the BJP and the Congress. “This statement of Dikshit is really extremely shocking. It appears something is cooking between the BJP and the Congress,” Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia soon joined in. “The Congress is working to make Modi ji the prime minister once again,” he said.