Describing the current spate of ceasefire violations along the international border in Jammu as the "longest-ever spell" of shelling since 1947, Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad today said the development was correlated with Narendra Modi-led NDA coming to power.
"There is a correlation between these ceasefire violations and the Modi-led NDA coming to power," the former union minister said at a press conference here.
Prime Minister Modi had yesterday asked the opposition leaders not to politicise the issue.
Azad alleged that it was Modi who had politicised it in the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign by claiming that the UPA government had failed to secure the country's borders.
"As many as eight persons have been killed and 93 injured in the current firing leading to displacement of about 35,000 people in three districts of Jammu," Azad said.
To Modi's statement that the army had retaliated strongly, Azad said, "The army belongs to the nation and it had retaliated to provocations during the UPA rule also. The Indian army belongs to the entire nation and not to the BJP and we are proud of our brave soldiers."
The Congress leader said Modi should have visited Jammu to learn about the plight of local people instead of campaigning in Maharashtra for assembly elections.
Azad said for the first time since 1971 the mortar shells of such a big size were being used on the international border. He alleged that Modi was indulging in "appeasement" of Pakistan and China with red carpet welcome of their heads of the state, without pointedly taking up the issues of border skirmishes and infiltrations with them.
To a question, Azad said while there was "collective leadership" in Congress, in BJP it was Modi's "one man show".
He evaded a reply when asked if Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was still being seen as "a vote catcher" for the October 15 assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana.
