The February 14, 2019 Pulwama terror attack is the talking point in Kerala's Pathanamthitta constituency where the state's ex-finance minister Thomas Isaac of the CPI (M) is facing a stiff challenge from sitting MP Anto Antony of the Congress and Anil Antony of the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The son of veteran Congress leader AK Antony, Anil Antony's campaign has been bolstered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the constituency on Friday.
The Pulwama terror attack became a talking point after the sitting MP and Congress candidate shot himself in the foot by blaming the BJP government at the Centre for the attack on a convoy of vehicles carrying Indian security personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway by a suicide bomber.
As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed in the attack. The Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the terror strike.
Anto's statement triggered outrage, with BJP candidate Anil demanding an unconditional applogy from him.
Anto retorted that he was only echoing the views of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik.
It may be recalled that in an interview, Satya Pal Malik alleged that there was a massive security lapse on the part of the Indian government in Pulwama and that Modi subsequently tried to silence him. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval too instructed him not to speak about it, Malik asserted.
Ten days after Malik’s explosive interview, he was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in New Delhi over an inquiry into an insurance scam in Kashmir during his tenure.
Meanwhile, for his part, Isaac affirmed that Pakistani terrorists were behind the Pulwama attack, but added that the Centre failed to take necessary steps to prevent the strike.
