Congress, BJD accuse BJP of Politicising Soldiers’ Sacrifice to Garner Votes

Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today took out ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ across the country including Odisha with the resolution to ensure the party’s victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. While the BJP raised the slogan ‘Fir Ek Baar, Modi Sarkar’ during the rally, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Odisha Congress accused the saffron party of being involved in blatant politicisation of soldiers’ sacrifice to garner votes.

During the Vijay Sankalp Yatra, BJP workers were seen taking out rallies on motorcycles across Odisha carrying party flags, stickers and the national flag. They were also seen raising slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and playing patriotic songs. However, such a move of the BJP didn’t go down well with the ruling-BJD and the Odisha Congress with both the parties describing the Sankalp Yatra as an attempt of the BJP to translate the post-Pulwama nationalistic wave into votes.

“The BJP is planning to cash in on the nationalistic feelings in the country. But people of the country are seeing and understanding all these moves of the BJP and will give a befitting reply for politicising the valour of our soldiers,” said BJD’s general secretary, Sanjay Das Burma.

Senior Congress leader Sura Routray said that all the credit goes to the Indian armed forces but Modi is trying to ‘steal’ the credit. “Instead of Modi, we should thank AICC president Rahul Gandhi who united all the political parties and supported the armed forces,” he said.

Rama Krushna Panda, national working committee member of Communist Party of India (CPI), said: “As the Modi government failed in all aspects from creation of jobs to inclusive development, attempts are now being made to politicise the Pulwama issue to woo voters by diverting them from the real issues plaguing the country. It’s unfortunate and condemnable.”

Refuting the allegations of the BJD and the Congress, senior BJP leader Biswa Bhusan Harichandan said that the shrewd diplomacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has immensely helped the country took strong and decisive stance against Pakistan. “It’s time the entire nation- all people and political parties with nationalistic feelings- should stand with the PM,” said Harichandan.