Ex-Punjab CM Charanjit Channi calls Poonch attack ‘pre-planned

Former chief minister of Punjab and Congress’ Jalandhar candidate Charanjit Singh Channi alleged that the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir was “pre-planned”, calling it a stunt by the BJP government to win the ongoing Lok Sabha election.
The Congress leader said, “This is stuntbaazi. And not the (terror) attacks. When elections come, such stunts are done to make the BJP win. These are pre-planned attacks, there is no truth in them…”
Attacking the central government, Channi alleged, “To kill people and to play with their bodies….BJP knows it…”
Notably, the Opposition had alleged in 2019 that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used the Pulwama attack, where 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives, to win the general elections that year. The Congress party had also raised a question on the legitimacy of the airstrikes conducted in Pakistan’s Balakot.
Union minister Anurag Thakur who was in Punjab on Sunday condemned Channi’s statement and demanded an apology from top Congress leadership. “I have a question for Congress: Were the 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars done for winning elections? On such a ridiculous statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should apologise…They question the ability of our forces…How low will Congress stoop? Will Congress insult our Bravehearts for the sake of winning elections?” Anurag Thakur said.
An IAF convoy was ambushed by a group of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch region on Saturday, with five officials left injured. One IAF soldier succumbed to his injuries later in the day.
The Indian Air Force on Sunday mourned the death of Corporal Vikki Pahade, who died after sustaining major injuries in the Poonch terrorist attack.
IAF wrote on its official X account, “The CAS Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and all personnel of (the) Indian Air Force salute the braveheart Corporal Vikky Pahade, who made the supreme sacrifice in (the) Poonch Sector, in the service of the nation. Our deepest condolences to the bereaved family. We stand firmly by your side in this hour of grief.”
The IAF and other security forces in the region are conducted a manhunt for the terrorists who carried out the attack. Security remains heightened in Poonch and intense checking of all vehicles is being carried out.
The attack on the IAF convoy comes days before the Lok Sabha elections in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat. The elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held in five phases from April 19 to May 20.
(With inputs from ANI)