Congress' priority not national security but vote banks, appeasement politics: Amit Shah in RS

Addressing the Rajya Sabha, the Minister stated that the entire country had been witnessing on how the priority of the Congress party was not national security and ending terrorism, but vote banks and appeasement politics.

"Yesterday, you (Congress) kept asking why the Pahalgam terrorists were killed? I ask why should they have not been killed? Because Rahul Gandhi was supposed to deliver his speech? It does not work like this. The entire country today has seen that the priority of the Congress party is not national security and ending terrorism but it is politics, vote bank and their appeasement politics...." Shah said during the session.

Applauding the Narendra Modi government, Shah assured that the state of Jammu and Kashmir would be freed from terrorism.

"Under the Operation Mahadev, we recognised the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I assure that Jammu and Kashmir will be freed from terrorism...." The Union Minister said.

Shah further stated that the attack by India left Pakistan in a state to not fight back, further stating that India destroyed Pakistan's terror camps, terror launching pads and their training camps.

"We attacked their (Pakistan) terror camps, terror launching pads and terror training camps, but they (Pakistan) considered it as an attack on their country. As a response, on 8th May, Pakistan attacked residential areas in India and defence installations. On 9th May, India attacked and destroyed Pakistan's 11 defence installations and airbases...After this, Pakistan was not in a position to fight back..."

Further referring to recent remarks of Congress leader and former home minister int eh UPA regime, Shah said, "Chidambaram demanded my resignation and questioned Operation Sindoor. He repeatedly challenged the evidence that those involved in the Pahalgam attack were Pakistani terrorists."

"Today, I want to ask him--who was he trying to protect? Pakistan? Lashkar-e-Taiba? Or the terrorists themselves?"

"Aren't you ashamed of this?" Shah asked, adding, "But by God's grace, on the very day he raised these questions, all three terrorists were killed."

Chidambaram, who served as Home Minister in the UPA tenure, had said in a recent interview with a news outlet that the Government was "unwilling to disclose what the NIA has done all these weeks. Have they identified the terrorists, where they came from? I mean, for all we know, they could be homegrown terrorists. Why do you assume that they came from Pakistan? There's no evidence of that. They are also hiding the losses."

Opposition members staged a walkout over their demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reply to the debate in the House. The debate in the Rajya Sabha began on Tuesday. (ANI)