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Updated: Feb 16, 2019 14:46 IST

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Pulwama terror attack recalling his statements made in the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls to target then Congress-led UPA government. The NCP was part of the Manmohan Singh government back then.

“I can remember, Prime Minister Modi, before coming to power, used to say in his election rallies that Manmohan Singh’s government had failed to teach Pakistan a lesson (after terror attacks),” news agency PTI quoted Pawar as saying during an interaction with reporters at Baramati in Maharashtra’s Pune district.

“He used to say the Manmohan Singh government did not have ability to teach a lesson (to Pakistan). He also used to remark that only those with a 56-inch chest could administer a tough lesson to Pakistan,” said Pawar.

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The NCP president called Thursday’s attack on the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir as an attack on the nation and emphasised that there should be no attempts to politicise the terror incident.

As a prime ministerial candidate, Modi used to exhort people in his rallies to replace the UPA government with that of the BJP so that Pakistan could be given a befitting reply for such terror attacks, Pawar said.

“But everyone has seen what has happened now. But today I will not repeat that same demand which he (Modi) had made (at that time),” Pawar said adding the kind of image that Modi created of himself in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls had now become a “100 per cent failure”.

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A convoy of 78 vehicles carrying more than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force jawans was targeted by terrorists on Jammu-Srinagar highway. The bus, which bore the brunt of the attack, was reduced to a heap of mangled iron. Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 40 CRPF jawans were killed in the terror attack, which saw a strong reaction from the Modi government, which withdrew the most favoured status granted to Pakistan in 1996. The ministry of external affairs reached out to more than 25 countries including P5 – the US, the UK, France, Russia and China.

PM Modi, later at a public event, served a stern warning to Pakistan saying the neighbour won’t be allowed to succeed in its attempt to de-stabilise the country.

Pawar also blamed Pakistan, though like PM Modi, he did not take its name. He said, “Such explosives and weapons are generally available with the army. Since they cannot get it from the Indian Army, it is clear the neighbouring nation provided such weapons to the attackers.”

The former defence minister also said there is need to give national security and defence greater importance.