BJP used Pulwama attack, Balakot air strike to win 2019 LS polls: Manik Sarkar

Agartala: The BJP had “used” the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the consequent air strike at Balakot in the neighbouring country to win the Lok Sabha polls that year, former Tripura CM Manik Sarkar claimed on Sunday.Sarkar made the claim days after former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik, alleged that the Pulwama terror attack was a result of “systemic failure, involving gross security and intelligence lapses”.A terror attack was carried out in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir by a suicide bomber on February 14, 2019 resulting in the death of 40 CRPF personnel.“Using the atmosphere, they (BJP) won the 2019 Lok Sabha election and it is Satya Pal Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir when the incident took place, is now speaking about it,” Sarkar said at a party programme here.Soon after the Balakot incident, the CPM had expressed doubt and asserted that there was a “deep-rooted conspiracy” behind the incident before the general elections held in April-May that year to overshadow other burning issues like unemployment.India’s war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack. Expressing surprise over Malik’s interview, Sarkar said the PM, home minister and national security advisor are now “observing silence”. Former army chief Gen (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury has also raised concerns over the issue, he said.PTI