Modi accuses Cong of using Gen Rawat's cut-outs for votes

Srinagar (U'khand): Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress on Thursday of abusing former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat when he was alive and using his cut-outs now for votes.

Addressing a rally in Uttarakhand's Srinagar ahead of the February 14 state Assembly polls, Modi said it is the Congress that had asked for proof of surgical strikes against terror hideouts in Pakistan.

"Its leaders in Delhi had asked for proof of the surgical strikes on television," he said. Reminding people that a Congress leader had even called General Rawat a "streetside hooligan", the PM said they are full of hatred for the armed forces. If that was not the case, they would not have "lied" to the armed forces on "One Rank One Pension" for decades, he said, adding that OROP could finally be implemented only when the BJP came to power at the Centre. "The responsibility of giving the Congress a fitting reply in the coming polls for showing disrespect to General Rawat and using his name politically rests on the shoulders of the people of Uttarakhand," the Prime Minister said. (PTI)