BJP politicising Balakot strike by giving different numbers on casualties, says Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday accused the BJP of politicizing the IAF airstrike in Pakistan's Balakot and said it was "throwing about numbers" on the casualties without any confirmation.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah had on Sunday claimed at an event in Ahmedabad that 250 terrorists were killed in the Indian Air Force (IAF) operation.

The Congress is not questioning the armed forces but the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "politicising" issue, Chidambaram said.

The Congress had condemned the Pulwama attack and the government's response of an air strike in Balakot was "praise-worthy". Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was among the first to salute the IAF, he said.

The debate started when "people started throwing about numbers" on the casualties caused by the air strike, Chidambaram said at an interactive meeting on 'Saving the idea of India' organized by Manthan, a forum for public discourse.

"It is the numbers which have stirred controversy," he said, adding that the first figure was "thrown" at a private briefing without any attribution and then another number appeared on TV channels.

The former finance minister alleged that the different figures were given by various ministers of the government and BJP president.

"Why did you have to throw up a number. All you had to say was there was an attack on the CRPF convoy and Indian Air Force retaliated. We have struck our target and we have returned unscathed. The matter is over. You try to politicize it by these numbers and these numbers are boomeranging on the government," Chidambaram said.

Talking about his book, a collection of columns, he said they deal with the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the "decline" in the economy and "undermining of institutions".

"If you read the four columns on Jammu and Kashmir, only last year, a year before I said to the Manthan audience, I fear that we have nearly lost Kashmir. If you read the four columns in this compilation, you will come to the conclusion that we have lost Kashmir," he said.