Should I count how many mosquitoes I killed: V K Singh on Balakot casualty debate

Union minister V K Singh on March 6 used a mosquito metaphor to address the debate on casualty figures in the Balakot air strikes, asking if he was expected to sit and count how many he killed at night or "sleep in comfort".

The tweet from the minister of state for external affairs came a day after he slammed the Congress for demanding the data and said it was not a "game of marbles" where an exact score can be kept.

"There were a lot of mosquitoes at 3:30 am at night. So, I used Hit (mosquito repellent) on them. Now, should I sit and count how many mosquitoes I killed or sleep in comfort," Singh tweeted on March 6 in an apparent reference to Congress demands from the government on proof of casualty figures in the air-strikes.

On March 5, Haryana minister Anil Vij had tweeted a similar comment. "The next time there is a strike on Pakistan-based terrorists, then one of mahagathbandhan leaders should be made to stand there so that they can count the bodies," he said.

The opposition has been asking the government to reveal the official death count in the strike which was conducted days after the February 14 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel died.

While IAF chief B S Dhanoa said in a press conference that the force does not count bodies, BJP president Amit Shah claimed at a political rally that over 250 terrorists were killed.