Hazaribagh: Moments after the BJP attacked former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi for calling wanted terrorist Masood Azhar “saheb” or sir, a senior party leader and Union Minister Jayant Sinha, who is contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh constituency, used the honorific in a short quote praising the centre for its role in the United Nations Security Council’s listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

He was addressing an election rally in Ramgarh district of the state at the time.

Mr Sinha said, “This is a big moment for the security of the nation. The work we have done has been successful. Now Masood Azhar-ji has been designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations.”

UN Security Council on Wednesday declared Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, a move that was being blocked by China for nearly 10 years.

The decision of the UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee came about two and a half months after the JeM carried out the ghastly terror attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama killing 40 CRPF personnel, an incident which, however, did not find a mention in the resolution adopted.