The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday condemned the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for running a political campaign at a time when the nation "must stand together with the forces".
Speaking in the state Assembly, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the people are angry with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Prime Minister for thinking about a political campaign at such a critical time.
"The people are angry with the PM. The PM should currently hold meetings with the armies and the political parties to see what can be done to strengthen the nation and not discussing political campaigns with the party workers."
He said he feels "sad" at Modi having a video interaction with party workers on Thursday.
"The whole nation was angry after the Pulwama attack. The air strike by the IAF (India Air Force) gave a strong message. The nation and all the political parties are with the Prime Minister. But I feel very sad to say that the PM is focusing on strengthening the booths.
"The country is with the PM, army. This is the time we should focus on the nation and the soldiers. If the nation is strengthened, the army is strengthened, the booth will be strengthened automatically," he said in the House.
Citing Karnataka BJP Chief B.S. Yeddyurappa's comments that the BJP will win 22 seats after the Pulwama attack, Kejriwal said: "I want to ask them for 300 seats, how many soldiers will you sacrifice. How many bodies do you need? How many families will you spoil for 300 seats? Shame... The BJP is counting the bodies and calculating the seats even in this time."
Kejriwal said there are two kinds of politics going on in the country -- "Centre's politics of dividing the nation and our politics of building the nation."
In an earlier tweet, Kejriwal had urged Modi to postpone the interaction.
He wrote: "I would urge the PM to postpone this. At this moment, we as a nation, need to spend all our energies and time to get the IAF pilot back safely and to sternly deal with Pakistan."
The AAP MLAs took a dig at the Prime Minister's slogan "Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot" (My booth strongest) for the electoral campaign by the BJP by saying "Mera Jawan Sabse Mazboot" (My soldier strongest).
In a statement, the AAP said the nation must stand together with the forces and not let the 'jawans' down by using this situation to gain political mileage.
"While the whole nation is worried about Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan, the BJP today once again showed that political campaigning is more important for it than the nation.
"By conducting the biggest video conference by PM addressing the BJP 'karyakartas' (workers) across India the Prime Minister showcased his misplaced priorities. All this while the whole of opposition has united in this dire situation India is facing," the statement read.
The AAP condemned the "irresponsible act by the BJP".
--IANS
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