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Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas
"Rahul Gandhi said, 'Give us proof.' Why do you need proof? Who is your father? Have we ever asked you for proof?"
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was in Uttarakhand, campaigning for the Assembly elections in the state when on Friday, 11 February, addressing a rally, he passed a comment on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, referring to Gandhi asking for proof of India's surgical strike on Pakistan in 2016.
A day later, addressing a rally in Raigiri, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao slammed him for questioning Gandhi about who his father was, and demanded that Sarma be sacked.
Attacking Rahul Gandhi for demanding proof of India's surgical strike in Pakistan in 2016 and airstrike in 2019, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Wayanad MP had no right to demand proof from the Indian Army.
Rao, on 12 February, called out his Assam counterpart, asking if his statement was justified, and urged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda to intervene. "Prime Minister Modi, is this the BJP's culture? Is this what Hinduism teaches? Is this India's tradition? That we question a leader about who his father is?" he added.
Hitting back at Rao, Sarma said, "Questioning the Army on whether they carried out the surgical strike or not, is the biggest crime. He (KCR) got agitated by my comment on Rahul Gandhi, but not by Gandhi's comment on our Army."
Addressing a press conference later, Rao again backed Gandhi, demanding that the Government of India provide proof of the strikes. "There is nothing wrong with Rahul Gandhi asking for proof of the surgical strike. Even I am asking. Let the Government of India show. There are apprehensions among people. So, it is their responsibility," he said.
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