BHOPAL: Ruling BJP continues to be on the target of the opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh, following the controversial remarks of its senior politicians about the Indian Armed Forces' Operation Sindoor.
After MP cabinet minister Vijay Shah and state’s deputy CM Jagdish Devda, now another senior politician – the seven-time Lok Sabha member and former union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste is on the principal opposition party’s target, for his “Pakistan ke hamare aatankwadi log (our terrorists of Pakistan)" statement.
When questioned by journalists in Dindori district on Friday about Operation Sindoor and the controversial speech by MP minister Vijay Shah about Colonel Sofia Qureshi, the seventh-time MP from Mandla-ST seat Faggan Singh Kulaste, said the minister (Vijah Shah) has said something, “but I’ve not seen or heard it”.
He further said that Operation Sindoor was a matter of pride for the entire nation. However, it was the next line which actually landed him in controversy, as he said, “Pakistan ke jo hamare aatankwadi log hain, unko muhtod jawab diya hai. (Our terrorists from Pakistan have been given a befitting reply).
Sharing the ex-union minister’s video on ‘X’ (formerly twitter), the MP Congress posted on Saturday, “He (Kulaste) has not only insulted the army by calling the country’s enemy Pakistani terrorists as our terrorists, but also made a fun of the martyrdom of the martyrs. The unbridled and foul-mouthed BJP leaders have now stopped so low that they’ve started calling even the terrorists as their own! This is a direct question to the MP CM and the country’s PM, will both maintain silence on such a leader, or has the statement come with their consent?”
Kulaste, one of the prominent tribal politicians of BJP in MP, however, clarified on Saturday that his statement has been presented in a distorted manner and the accusations of the Congress are baseless.
MP BJP to train its leaders to speak in restrained manner
With the Congress continuing to protest across the state over the issue and Kulaste’s slip of tongue giving it fresh ammo to attack the BJP and its government, the ruling BJP’s state party organisation has reportedly decided to hold a special training program for its leaders on speaking in public in a restrained manner.
According to informed sources in the state BJP organisation, all the leaders, including MLAs and MPs will be told at the training program, in detail about what to say and what not to, particularly exercising restraint in language and choice of words while speaking publicly. The special training program is likely to be organized outside Bhopal in June.
Importantly, BJP has been faced with continued embarrassment throughout this week by the controversial public remarks of its ministers and leaders on Indian Armed Forces following Operation Sindoor.
While a FIR has been lodged against cabinet minister Vijay Shah on MP High Court’s order for his May 12 “sister of terrorists” veiled remark for Colonel Sofia Qureshi, the opposition Congress accused state’s deputy CM Jagdish Devda of saying on Friday that “Indian Army bows in the feet of PM Narendra Modi.”
Devda, however, has come out with a detailed clarification that his statement, which actually meant that the entire nation bowed in the feet of Indian Armed Forces for the success of Operation Sindoor, has been distorted and presented wrongly by the Congress and sections of media.
