Prithviraj Chavan (PTI image)
NEW DELHI: A political storm erupted on Tuesday after former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan claimed that India was “completely defeated” on the first day of Operation Sindoor, while questioning the conduct of the military operation. His remarks triggered sharp criticism from the BJP.Speaking to reporters in Pune, Chavan alleged that India suffered setbacks on the first day of the operation. “On the first day (of Operation Sindoor) we were completely defeated. In the half-hour aerial engagement that took place on the 7th, we were fully defeated, whether people accept it or not. Indian aircraft were shot down. The Air Force was completely grounded, and not a single aircraft flew. If any aircraft had taken off from Gwalior, Bathinda, or Sirsa, there was a high probability of being shot down by Pakistan, which is why the Air Force was fully grounded,” Chavan said.
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The Congress leader further alleged that Operation Sindoor, involved only aerial and missile warfare and saw no ground movement by the armed forces. “Recently, we saw during Operation Sindoor, there was not even a one-kilometre movement of the military… Whatever happened over two or three days was only an aerial war and missile warfare. In the future too, wars will be fought in the same way. In such a situation, do we really need to maintain an army of 12 lakh soldiers, or can we make they do some other work?” he said. Reacting strongly to Chavan’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of repeatedly disrespecting the Indian Armed Forces and undermining national security operations.In a post on X, Poonawalla wrote that the statements made by the former Maharashtra chief minister were “shocking” and targeted the Air Force and the armed forces.
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He said, “Shocking Controversial statements by congress on Air Force and Armed Forces By Prithviraj Chavan. He says on the first day (of Operation Sindoor) we were completely defeated. In the half-hour aerial engagement that took place on the 7th, we were fully defeated, whether people accept it or not. Indian aircraft were shot down. In the future too, wars will be fought in the same way. In such a situation, do we really need to maintain an army of 12 lakh soldiers, or can we make they do some other work?”He further alleged that the Congress “hates Indian Armed Forces” and said “Sena ka apman is Congress ki pehchaan,” adding that the party has a history of questioning military actions, from “Sadak ka gunda to doubting Sindoor / Surgical Strike/ Balakote and even Op Mahadev.”Operation Sindoor was launched by India on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation was carried out in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 civilians were killed. Go to Source
