On Thursday, Gandhi, while concluding his ‘Kisan Yatra’ in Delhi at Jantar mantar accused Prime Minister Modi of playing politics over the ‘blood of jawans’ who sacrificed their lives in Kashmir.
Targeting the Prime Minister over the surgical strikes, Gandhi said, "Jo hamare jawan hain jinhone apna khoon diya hai, Jammu and Kashmir mein khoon diya hai, jinhone Hindustan ke liye surgical strikes kiye hain, unke khoon ke peeche aap chhupe hain. Unki aap dalali kar rahe ho. Yeh bilkul galat hai. (You [Modi] are hiding behind the blood of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir and those who carried out the surgical strikes for India. You are exploiting their sacrifices, which is very wrong)."
Gandhi's statement sparked controversy across the nation as the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back at Gandhi in equal measure.
BJP chief Amit Shah lashed out at the Congress vice-president, asking whether ‘dalali’ was an appropriate word used in reference for the Indian Army and their valiant efforts in serving the nation.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Shah hit out at Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and others for politicising the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on September 29.
"By saying 'dalali' over soldiers’ blood, Rahul Gandhi has crossed all limits. The remarks reflect the Congress' mentality,” Shah said during a news conference at the BJP headquarters. "I strongly condemn his remarks. They are an insult not only to the brave armed forces and martyrs but the entire country."
"We want to ask him, who was the dalal in the Bofors scandal? Who was the dalal in the 2G scam? Dalali is a word used for deals. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi how is it possible to refer to this word while talking about the sacrifices of the Indian Army? Is the blood of our soldiers a tradable commodity?" Shah posed these questions at Friday’s press conference.