While addressing a rally in Latur today (April 8), Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again dragged the Indian army in his political campaign to garner votes. PM tried to incite the emotions of the young generation by asking them to dedicate their votes to the soldiers martyred in Pulwama attack, by voting for the BJP.

He in his speech said, “ I want to ask the first-time voter, can your vote be dedicated to those soldiers who conducted air strike on Balakot in Pakistan?”. He further asked, “Can your first vote be dedicated to those soldiers who were killed in Pulwama attack?”

Understanding the importance of the first time voters of the state, Modi deliberately used the dastardly Pulwama terror attack to siphon off the votes.

PM further praising his own government said that the government had not mentioned the Balakot air strike in BJP manifesto, but it carried the air strike when it was required.

Earlier in his previous rally in Chitradurga, Karnataka, PM had said, “We attacked terror in Pakistan, but some people in India felt the pain. The CM here went a step further. He said the valour of our forces should not be talked about, it damages his vote bank. I want to ask him, is your vote bank in India or Pakistan?”.

Congress manifesto – Fraud manifesto

Modi further taking a jibe at Congress said that the Congress manifesto directly supports Pakistan as it will never scrap off Article 370. He further said, “ Congress wants to give an open license to anti-nationals”. He further said that Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party are advocating for a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir.

Election Commission’s warning

PM’s speech came days after the Election Commission of India, in particular, asked political parties to keep armed forces out of the election campaigns. The Election Commission in a statement had earlier said, “ Armed forces are apolitical and neutral stakeholders in a modern democracy. It is, therefore, necessary that political parties and leaders exercise great caution while making any reference to the armed forces in their political campaigns”.

This is not the first time that the ruling party has dragged armed forces to increase the vote counts. Previously, Yogi Aditynath addressed Indian Army as ‘Modiji Ki Sena’ in a speech.

Also Read: EC Issues Notice TO CM Yogi Over His “Modiji Ki Sena” Remark