BJP's CR Kesavan slams Congress leaders for belittling Operation Sindoor, questions their patriotism

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 21 (ANI): BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan on Wednesday strongly criticized Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge over his remarks on Operation Sindoor.
Kharge had earlier described Operation Sindoor as a "small war" and attacked the government's response to US claims about mediation between India and Pakistan, saying the government "has not provided clarity to the people of the country regarding US President Trump's statements."
Responding to this, Kesavan said, "Both Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have made such belittling comments against Operation Sindoor. One cannot but wonder whether for the Congress party, LoP means Leader of Opposition or Leader of Pakistan."
He questioned why the Congress party was unable to appreciate the courage and selfless sacrifice of the army.
Kesavan further accused the Congress of demoralising and discrediting the Indian Army and the nation, adding, "The only thing that the Congress party is doing is to demoralise and discredit the Indian Army and our nation."
These remarks came after Kharge, speaking at the Samarpana Sankalpa Samavesh rally in Karnataka's Vijayanagara, alleged that intelligence agencies had prior information about a possible attack in the region but questioned why tourists were not informed. Kesavan's comments aimed to counter Kharge's criticism and defend the government's handling of the situation and the army's actions.
"26 people were killed in Kashmir because the Modi government didn't provide security to tourists. Modi did not go to Kashmir because the intelligence agencies asked him not to. Why didn't you (central government) inform the tourists not to go there (Pahalgam)? If they had, 26 lives could have been saved, and this small war (Operation Sindoor) would not have happened," Kharge said.
In a post on X later, Kharge alleged that the government had not responded to the US President Donald Trump's claims on mediation.
"PM Modi has been making frequent foreign trips for the last 11 years, but when India needed international support to expose Pakistan, no other country came forward to support us. In the last 11 years, Prime Minister Modi has made 151 foreign trips and visited 72 countries. Out of these, he has visited the US 10 times. Yet, our country stands alone under the Modi government's foreign policy. Is it the Prime Minister's job to visit foreign countries and only pose for photos? The IMF has provided a bailout loan of $1.4 billion to Pakistan. But nobody supported India's stance," he said.
"A ceasefire was suddenly declared while our brave Armed Forces were conducting operations against terrorists. The US President has insulted our country by saying, "I brokered" the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and repeated this, not less than 7 times. The entire country was united in the tough action against terrorists, but Modi ji is trying to cover up the issue by not providing clarity to the people of the country regarding US President Trump's statements, so far," he added.
In response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, including a Nepali national, were killed, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, in which precision strikes destroyed terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoK) and eliminated nearly 100 terror operatives at key bases in Pakistan. India responded effectively to subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases.
On May 10, an understanding of the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan was announced. India has said that the agreement on stopping military action was done bilaterally and Pakistan DGMO had reached out to his Indian counterpart. (ANI)