PUNE: Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for politicising the IAF’s air strike on Balakot in Pakistan.The international media has raised questions on the Union government’s claims of air strike and its consequences, Chavan said, while addressing a news conference in the city. “The government should now take the lead and explain to the citizens what really happened. The way PM Modi and other BJP leaders are handling the matter, it is very demoralising for the armed forces,” he said.Taking a dig at the Congress, PM Modi had said on Saturday that Rafale fighters could have delivered even better results (in Balakot air strike ). Reacting sharply to it, Chavan said such comments underestimated the capacity of Indian armed forces and air force officers, who had shown great valour while carrying out the air strike using old MIG aircrafts.“Modi, who is blaming the Congress for the delay in procuring the (Rafale) jets, should tell the citizens of the country as to why the Union government could not get even one aircraft during the last four years. The Congress had carried out a number of processes to procure the jets. Even trials were carried out and prices were also fixed. The BJP government should have bought them, but they sat quietly on them and are now trying to get political mileage out of the issue,” Chavan said, adding, “Such remarks are not sending a right message to the world. The international media has already raised doubts over India’s action,” Chavan said.Suspense over Pune LS seat candidateWhen asked if the party was considering to field an outsider as its candidate from the Pune seat during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said, “The decision of selecting the candidate for the city has not been taken yet.”He said a meeting regarding this was held, in which 21 party leaders were in attendance. “We have given a report about it to the party higher command, who will take a call on who to nominate,” Chavan said.He also refused to speak on the seat-sharing row with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). When asked as to who will be the alliance’s candidate for Ahmednagar, he simply declined to answer it. Incidentally, Ahmednagar has become a bone of contention between the Congress and NCP.

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