New Delhi, May 2:
Senior Congress leader Rajiv Shukla on Thursday claimed that armed forces had conducted ‘six surgical strikes’ during the UPA regime. Addressing a press conference, Rajiv Shukla also listed the dates when these ‘surgical strikes’ were conducted. Shukla told media that six surgical strikes were conducted when the Congress-led UPA was in power and two were carried out when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister of India. “Congress never tried to take credit of these strikes. The one who did only one surgical strike is patting his back. Neither Dr Manmohan Singh nor Vajpayee addressed a press conference to take credit for these strikes,” Shukla said. It may be recalled that Vajpayee was PM between 1999 and 2004, while Manmohan Singh was PM from 2004 to 2014. Shukla provided details of the surgical strikes, saying the first was conducted on June 19, 2008 in Bhattal Sector in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch. The second was carried out on August 30-September 1, 2011 in Sharda Sector across Neelam River Valley in Kel. According to Shukla, the third surgical strike was conducted on January 6, 2013 at Sawan Patra Checkpost; fourth on July 27-28, 2013 at Nazapir Sector; fifth on August 6, 2013 at Neelam Valley; and sixth surgical strike was conducted on January 14, 2014. Shukla also provided details of two surgical strikes that were carried out during PM Vajpayee’s regime, saying first strike was conducted on on January 21, 2000 at Nadala Enclave across the Neelam River and second on September 18, 2003 at Baroh Sector in Poonch. The Congress and the BJP have been engaged in a war of words over the surgical strikes ever since the Indian Air Force carried out air strikes at Jaish-e-Mohammad’s terror camps inside Pakistan on February 26. It is to be noted that the BJP-led government had conducted its first surgical strike on September 29 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to avenge the terror attack at an Army camp in Uri.
