Hitting out at the BJP for allegedly politicising the air strike in Pakistan, the Trinamool Congress Tuesday accused it of trying to replace the Ashoka emblem on the uniform of the armed forces with the saffron party's symbol.
The saffron party, in a counter allegation, said the ruling party in the state is echoing Pakistan by casting doubts on the preemptive attack on the terror camps.
Last week, TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sought evidence of the air strike, stating that opposition parties wanted to know the details of the Indian Air Force (IAF) operation.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) national spokesperson Derek O'Brien, in a statement, said Tuesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should stop taking credit for the preemptive strike on terror camps in Pakistan as the armed forces belong to India and not to the saffron party.
"The BJP is shamelessly and trying to replace the Ashok Stambh (emblem) on the armed forces' uniform, with their party logo. Not a single opposition leader has politicised the air strike, it was just the BJP that did it.
"The armed forces are India's pride. We are always with them, but we will oppose the incumbent government, whose expiry date is over," O'Brien, who is also the TMC's parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha, said.
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BJP national president Amit Shah had said on Saturday that those who did not have courage to avenge the killing of soldiers, when in power, were raising doubts on the recent air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camps for "cheap politics" and their statements made Pakistan happy.
The BJP's state unit president, Dilip Ghosh, claimed that the TMC was harming interests of the nation by raising questions on the IAF operation.
"Mamata Banerjee has expressed doubt over the casualty figure in the Balakot air strike, and so did Pakistan. We don't need Pakistan to harm the interests of the country, the TMC is capable of doing the job," Ghosh said at a press meet here.
The BJP leader also took a dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, asserting that the opposition leaders enjoy more popularity in Pakistan than India.
"The people of the country will give a resounding reply in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to those who are betraying the country," he maintained.
Asked about West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi's comment on the air strike, flaying those who have expressed skepticism on its success, Ghosh said he did not take names, but clearly suggested that negative remarks against the armed forces were not welcome.
To another query on the casualty figure in the Balakot air strike, he said, "More than counting the bodies, what is more important is the fact that India has given a befitting reply for the Pulwama attack on its jawans."