Former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi has sparked controversy with remarks questioning India's surgical strikes against Pakistan, even as his party called for national unity in the wake of the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
Speaking after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in New Delhi, Channi stated, "If a bomb falls in our country, no one would know. They claim we conducted surgical strikes in Pakistan. Nothing happened, no surgical strikes were seen, nobody knew about them."
Channi's comments came following a CWC meeting where members extensively discussed the Pahalgam terror attack and the need for a caste census "in keeping with the demands of 21st century India."
In an official statement released after the meeting, the Congress party expressed solidarity with victims of the terror attack: "The Congress Working Committee stands in solidarity and support with the 26 families who lost their loved ones in the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam. The pain of these families is the pain of the entire nation. The CWC stands with them, not only in words but in enduring solidarity."
The CWC resolution notably emphasised that "Congress believes this is not a time for politics, but a moment that calls for unity, strength, and national resolve."
The juxtaposition of Channi's comments questioning military operations against the party's official stance calling for unity highlights the Congress party's failure to control its leaders who put the party in a difficult spot with their statements.
