'Twelfth man of Pakistan': BJP accuses Congress of politicizing Op Sindoor, consistently finding fault with patriotism

The BJP has accused the Congress of speaking Pakistan's language with respect to the armed conflict earlier this month. (File/PTI)

The Congress party, which came in for much embarrassment following remarks by party leader Salman Khurshid countering the criticism he faced for being a part of the all-party delegation abroad, has now been labelled as the "twelfth man of Pakistan" by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"Salman Khurshid’s tweet reflects how the Congress party has consistently found fault with patriotism and nitpicked on nationalism. Today, the Congress is sounding more like the 12th man of Pakistan," Tamil Nadu BJP leader CR Kesavan told news agency ANI.

In a post on X earlier today, Khurshid said it was distressing to see "people at home" were busy calculating political allegiances when he was part of a delegation on a mission against terrorism.

"When on mission against terrorism, to carry India’s message to the world, it’s distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?" Khurshid said in the post. He is part of a delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha which is visiting countries like Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore as part of the government's diplomatic outreach on Operation Sindoor.

Latching on to Khurshid's remark, the BJP leader said that it laid bare that the Congress chose to politicise Operation Sindoor instead of standing with patriotism.

"The tweet clearly shows that at a time when Congress should have stood for patriotism, it chose instead to politicise Operation Sindoor. For the Congress, divisive and appeasement-based politics matter more than national unity," Kesavan said.

The Congress has been heavily critical of the Centre's decision to send multi-party delegations to several countries and has instead been insisting on convening a special session of Parliament to discuss the India-Pakistan conflict in detail.

Critics, however, argue that the Congress is peeved more about the selection of party nominees to be part of the delegation than the exercise itself. Four Congress members are part of the seven delegations -- Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid and Amar Singh.

However, the Congress had earlier alleged that none of its recommendations, barring Anand Sharma, were chosen to be part of the delegations. Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring did not feature on the list.

The BJP has also accused the Congress of placing its own interests over that of the nation ever since the party began raising questions on the details of Operation Sindoor. On Saturday, the Congress party latched on to the remarks by Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan regarding fighter jets being targeted by Pakistan during the four-day conflict earlier in the month.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Narendra Modi government of having "misled the nation” on Operation Sindoor. "In the wake of the remarks made by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in Singapore in an interview, there are some very important questions which need to be asked. These can only be asked if a Special Session of the Parliament is immediately convened. The Modi Govt has misled the nation. The fog of war is now clearing," he said in a post on X.

Notably, the remarks were featured prominently on the websites of several media outlets in Pakistan.