Political temperature soared over Rahul Gandhi's 'dalali' remarks, with BJP chief Amit Shah launching a blistering attack on him, saying he "crossed all limits" and "insulted" the army's valour as Congress leader insisted he supported the military action but denounced "political propaganda" on the issue. The Congress vice president also came in for criticism from Arvind Kejriwal, who himself is facing flack over his remarks on the army's surgical strikes across the LoC, with the Delhi Chief Minister urging political parties to set aside their differences and rally behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi.NCP too disapproved of Gandhi's remarks about the Modi government "profiteering" from the blood spilt by the soldiers. "By making 'khoon ki dalali' remarks, Rahul Gandhi has crossed all limits. It was an extreme. By choosing such words, he insulted the bravery of our soldiers and 125 crore people of India," Shah said.

Suggesting that those casting doubts on the authenticity of surgical strikes are "anti-India" leaders, he said, "The whole country, BJP and its government are standing firmly behind the army. We do not believe in the comments of anti-India leaders. We believe in the army's bullets." On the backfoot after his barb, apparently aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress vice president said he "unequivocally" backed the army action."I fully support the surgical strikes and I have said so unequivocally, but I will not support using the Indian Army in political posters and propaganda all across the country," the Congress vice president said in a series of tweets.

He had yesterday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of "hiding behind the blood of soldiers" and said that he was politically exploiting their sacrifices. "Jinhone Hindustan ke liye surgical strike 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}," Rahul had said.

Even as Shah insisted that the strikes should not be politicised, he made it clear that BJP will go to people over the issue to "boost the army's morale" and that the military assault underlined the Modi government's zero tolerance policy against terrorism as well as its strong political will to take tough decisions.Congress' senior leader Kapil Sibal, who was fielded to defend Gandhi, said the party vice president had lauded the Prime Minister when he said "Modi finally acted like a true PM".

"We defend the strikes, but stop this propaganda. It is wrong to claim credit for the sacrifice made by the jawans," he said and attacked Amit Shah for criticising Gandhi."Those who were in jail, got externed, had murder cases against them are telling us that we are at fault," Sibal said.Kejriwal, whose remarks on the surgical strikes were interpreted as questioning their veracity, was also critical of Gandhi."Our soldiers valiantly carried out surgical strikes and demolished terror addresses. I have previously done so and want to congratulate the army once again for this. I strongly criticise Rahul Gandhi's remarks wherein he said army's sacrifices and bravery was 'khoon ki dalali'," he said.

"I condemn the use of such words. I have told in the House as well as in a video message that right now there is tension at the border. The entire country should stand behind the army keeping aside political differences and support the Prime Minister's steps pertaining to security. There should not be any politics over this issue," Kejriwal said.However, Shah was unsparing in his criticism of even Kejriwal at his press conference, saying he was the first to cast doubts over the authenticity of surgical strikes and was trending on Twitter in Pakistan."#PakStandsWithKejriwal was a top trend in Pakistan. It itself shows who are benefiting from his efforts," he said.

Raking up a number of alleged scams under the UPA government, he said wryly that 'dalali' word is on Gandhi's mind as his party's government did 'dalali' in Bofors, Embraer, 2G and coal block allocation deals but the strikes were not an occasion for using such a term.

Rejecting the charge that BJP was using these strikes for political benefits, he said none of the top party leaders made any statement and it was the DGMO and not the Defence Minister who addressed a press conference to announce the army's cross- border attacks.Asked if his party will make it an issue in the state elections, Shah treaded cautiously saying, "We do not want to politicise it but we will definitely take it to the people because boosting the army's morale is the duty of every responsible political party.

"These surgical strikes announce the Modi government's zero tolerance policy against terrorism... The achievement is of the army. The strong political will is of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."Dismissing claims of Congress leaders that such surgical strikes have happened earlier too, Shah said "for the first time since independence soldiers crossed the LoC to destroy launch pads of terrorists".Former army officers have said it never happened earlier, he added.Targeting Gandhi, Shah said Congress and he in particular disliked Modi and recalled expressions like 'maut ke saudagar' (merchant of death) and 'zahar ki kheti' (sowing crop of poison) used by his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi against Modi.BJP won two-third majority in Gujarat after 'maut ke saudagar' remarks and got a majority after 'zahar ki kheti' comments, he said, wondering what will be the fallout of 'khoon ki dalali' barb.

Meanwhile, the NCP, former Congress ally, too criticised Gandhi for his 'dalali' remarks and called the surgical strikes "historic". "Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the principal opposition party, which is the perhaps the oldest organisation in the world. He should have refrained from using such words," NCP MP D P Tripathi told reporters. He also hit out at Congress' Mumbai unit chief Sanjay Nirupam for questioning the genuineness of the strikes, saying his comments were "anti-national" in nature. Asserting that the surgical strikes on terror camps were "historic" and a result of astute planning by the government and the army, the party said it was, however, against "chest thumping" and "drum beating" over the issue.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also attacked Gandhi and the Congress party on the issue. "Rahul Gandhi's comments yesterday were not only regrettable but shameful. The justification today by the Congress crossed all limits of shameful conduct in the public life of the country," Prasad said, assailing Sibal for his comments against Shah that criminal cases were pending against him. "Not even charges were framed against our party chief. The court said the entire case is a frame-up because of political conspiracy," he said. "Devotion (in Congress) to Rahul Gandhi is more in order of priority than devotion to the country and defending Rahul is more important than defending the country," Prasad said.