Surgical strikes controversy : Amit Shah blasts Rahul Gandhi for Khoon ki Dalali comment

Shah went full ballistic by digging into the past and raising the issue of the Bofors kickback, in which political opposition had sought to implicate late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul's father.

"Some parties have doubted the surgical strikes. On behalf of the BJP I want to say to those people who are questioning the Army, I condemn this. You have only insulted army and the martyrs," Shah said while addressing a press conference.

"All this was started by Kejriwalji. Yesterday #PaksTandsWithKejriwal was trending in Pakistan, and that shows a lot. After this, there were stray comments from our other opponents. But when Congress V-P Rahul Gandhiji said khoon ki dalali, he crossed all limits," he said.

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday had  accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "playing with the blood of soldiers", in reference to the Indian Army’s 29 September surgical strikes.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had praised Modi and the Indian Army for the surgical strikes  and warned the PM of "Pakistan's false propaganda" and asked him to "unmask" it, sending out a message that the Government reveal the proof of the strikes.

Training his gun particularly at Rahul Gandhi, Shah said, "We want to ask him, who was the dalali in the Bofors scandal? Who was the dalali in the 2G scam? I want to ask Rahul Gandhi: a dalali is only for deals. How is it possible when it comes to the efforts of the army?"

Shah  also asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to clarify her stand on this statement.

Shah said Rahul Gandhi, in the past, had used similar phrases  such as "maut ka saudagar" and "zeher ki kheti" in an attempt to denigrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Claiming that his party had always tried to stay away from the controversies sought to be raised over the surgical strikes, the BJP President said  it was "the DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) and not Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who briefed reporters about soldiers traveling into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir last week.

Shah said that none of the senior BJP leaders has issued a statement politicising the issue.

This is a matter that the whole nation is joyous about and that the real question is, "why aren't you enthusiastic about it?"

"The whole country, the government and the BJP are behind the army. We trust the bullets of the Indian army which keep the nation safe," he said.