Samajwadi Party (SP) has been divided in its opinion of Indian Army's surgical strikes when Akhilesh Yadav chose to back Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Amar Singh lauded Prime Minister Modi for getting rid of some terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC).
The contradictory statements given by the SP leaders expose the differences in opinion within the party leadership. While Yadav backed Gandhi's accusations against Modi of "khoon ki dalaali" or marketing blood of the soldiers for political advancement, Singh praised Modi for the surgical strikes against terrorism.
"It is not a question of the Congress, but I have good relations with Rahul Gandhi. If he has said something, he must have given it much thought. He must have some information about it," Yadav said clarifying his stand on the matter. "Ultimately, the poor lost their lives, the farmers are dying, their sons are dying, so what do they know about surgical strikes?" Yadav further asked.
SP leader Singh on the other hand stated that the Centre had consulted SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav about the strikes when he was asked about Gandhi's "dalali" barb. Although Congress and Gandhi maintained that they supported the military action, they were vocal about not allowing BJP to gain political leverage using this incident.
Meanwhile, Aam Admi Party chief Aravind Kejriwal had insisted on the army releasing proof of the attacks. In response to these demands and claims, BJP leader Amit Shah called a press conference on Friday, October 7 to clarify that BJP has not tried to gain political mileage by using the surgical strikes, even if some citizens at the local level may have gotten enthused with patriotic zeal after strikes.
