Another Pulwama attack can happen to win polls: Thackeray

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray Saturday linked Pathankot and Pulwama terror attacks with elections and said another “Pulwama like strike” could occur in near future in a bid to win the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Indian media reported on Saturday.Thackeray also slammed as “insult to jawans” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that presence of Rafale jets could have added to more firepower to the February 26 raids by Air Force on a terrorist camp in Pakistan’s Balakot.Thackeray was addressing party workers on the 13th Foundation Day of the MNS.In the February 14 Pulwama attack, the worst in the Valley so far, 40 troopers of the CRPF were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a bus in the paramilitary force’s convoy.Thackeray also alleged that the warnings issued by intelligence agencies prior to the Pulwama attack were ignored.“40 jawans were martyred in the Pulwama attack. Should we still not ask questions?” he questioned.Taking a dig at the BJP president Amit Shah’s statement on the number of casualties in the Balakot strike, the MNS chief said whether Shah was one of the “co-pilots” who participated in the airstrike.“Intelligence agencies had sounded off warnings before Pulwama, however they were ignored. Is the NSA not responsible if jawans were killed despite prior intelligence?” he asked.Thackeray claimed the Indian Air Force “missed” targets it had intended to hit in Balakot because of “wrong information” provided to them by the Modi government.“If the prime minister himself says that results would have been better had the country have Rafale jets, it was an insult to our jawans,” he said.Thackeray disputed that any terrorist was killed in the airstrike and said had that been the case, Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman would not have been allowed to return home from captivity by Pakistan.“There is a limit to speaking lies. Lies are being spoken to win elections. In a bid to win upcoming elections, there will be another Pulwama like attack within the next 1-2 months,” he said. On the Pathankot attack, Thackeray said PM Modi had met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on December 25, 2015 and gave him a cake on his birthday.“In the next seven days, the Pathankot terror attack took place. At that time, (assembly) elections were due in four states in the next three months,” he said.

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