PM’S Balakot remark draws Opposition flak

NEWDELHI: Several opposition parties criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday and Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury complained to the Election Commission over his remarks linking the go-ahead for the Balakot air strike to inclement weather that he said would have helped Indian jets escape Pakistan’s radars.

Modi’s comments also drew condemnation from other quarters - including a flurry of memes and posts on social media pointing out that modern radar technology is unaffected by cloudy or inclement weather.

In the TV interview aired on Saturday, Modi said: “The weather suddenly turned bad. There were showers...there was a thought that crept in the minds of the experts that the day of strike should be changed. However, I suggested that the clouds could actually help our planes escape the radars.” Modi added that he is not someone with the “knowledge of science in such matters”, but used his “raw vision”. He also stressed the need to keep the February 26 operation against a Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM) terror camp secret. After Modi’s interview, Yechury alleged that the PM’S statements were a deliberate violation of the guidelines the election commission, which had asked parties to exercise caution while making any references to the armed forces and military operations in their election campaigns. “It appears that Modi is mocking the Election Commission by violating all rules, codes and guidelines with impunity with damaging consequences for our democracy, of which the Election Commission is the custodian. We hope that you will ... initiate action against Modi,” he said.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar responded that “PM Modi did not reveal anything (about the Balakot strike) he was not supposed to reveal”. In response to a tweet by the BJP on Modi’s comment, the Congress posted: “Jumla hi fekta raha paanch saal ki sarkar mein, Socha tha cloudy hai mausam, Nahi aaunga radar mein [He used rhetoric during his five-year tenure hoping cloudy weather would keep him out of radar].” NC leader Omar Abdullah added: “Pakistani radar doesn’t penetrate clouds. This is an important piece of tactical information that will be critical when planning future air strikes.” The IAF’S February 26 operation against a JEM terror camp in Balakot was New Delhi’s response to the February 14 suicide bombing, targeting a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, claimed by the JEM, where 40 troopers were killed.