Under fire, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a counter offensive against Congress and NCP on ceasefire violations by Pakistan, saying such issues should not be dragged into political discourse as he hauled them over the coals over corruption in Maharashtra.
NCP boss and former Defence Minister Sharad Pawar was the butt of Modi's criticism as he continued to hit the campaign trail for Maharashtra Assembly poll with a vengeance despite being dubbed an "absentee" Prime Minister by Congress.
"When you were the defence minister, there were problems with Pakistan and China on the border. Did you ever bother to go to the border then?"
"There have been terror strikes in Maharashtra during your tenure... Mumbai, Malegaon, Pune. You could not even reach the terrorists, leave alone catching them. In the spirit of patriotism, we never politicised the issue," he told an election rally at Baramati, Pawar's pocket borough.
Modi was responding to Pawar's criticism for holding a string of election meetings despite the tension on the border following repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan that have caused civilian casualties.
"Today, when bullets are being fired on the border, it is the enemy that is screaming. Our jawans have responded to the aggression with courage," he said, adding "the enemy has realised that times have changed and their old habits will not be tolerated."
Deprecating a political discourse over ceasefire violations, he said, "Such an issue should not be part of a political debate... Elections will come and go, governments will come and go, but please don't demoralise those fighting on the border by debating these things for political gains."
Seeking to turn the tables on the Opposition over its criticism of the government for handling the situation on the border, Modi again raised the issue at a poll rally in Mumbai, saying, "I am astonished by their nonsensical statements and they want me to respond.
"You tell me, should I respond. Should the PM respond to this. The jawan standing on the border is responding with his hand on the trigger. There will not come a time when the PM has to respond, this is the strength of my government," he said.
