‘Unthinkable’: BJP on Cong leader’s ‘martyrs’ remark on Chhattisgarh encounter

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday called out Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate after she used the term “shaheed” (martyrs) while responding to a question on the recent Kanker encounter in Chhattisgarh, in which 29 Maoists were killed in a gunfight with the Border Security Force (BSF).
The BJP alleged that Shrinate used “shaheed” for the Maoists, also called Naxals. Three BSF men who sustained injuries in the encounter are currently recuperating.
“Instead of welcoming the action by the security forces, the Congress has done what is expected of them. However, it is unthinkable that it (Congress) claimed that the Naxals were essentially martyrs. It puts a question mark on the bravery of our security forces,” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said at a press conference.
Poonawalla, himself an ex-Congressman, continued, “Supriya Shrinate described the Naxals as martyrs and expressed sympathy for them. She also said that a thorough probe should be conducted into this operation.”
He further stated that she “exposed the real face” of the Congress-led opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc, adding that the grand old party was “advocating” for the Maoists, as it is losing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
This latest controversy involving Shrinate, a former journalist, comes days after she was censured by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for a “derogatory” Instagram post on actor Kangana Ranaut, the BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi.
She, however, gave a “clarification” saying that the post was not made by her, and that “multiple people” had access to her Instagram and Facebook accounts.
“One of those people posted an extremely problematic and disgusting post from my Instagram account. As soon as I learnt of it, I first deleted it because anyone who knows me knows that I can never launch such a personal and horrid attack against a woman,” she said at the time.
(With PTI inputs)