Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda sparked a political row on Friday after he said that the country, its army and soldiers have ‘bowed down at the feet’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Operation Sindoor. The Congress lashed out at Devda, saying that his remarks were ‘cheap and shameful’.
In a purported video shared by the Congress on X, Devda is heard saying that the entire country and soldiers have bowed down at the feet of Narendra Modi.
“We want to thank the prime minister. The entire country, its army and soldiers are ‘nat-mastak’ (with their heads bowed down) at his feet. The entire country has bowed down at his feet,” he was heard saying in the video posted by the Congress.
The MP Deputy CM’s comment comes days after another political row in the state regarding Operation Sindoor, in which state cabinet minister Kunwar Vijay Shah made a controversial remark against Col. Sofiya Qureshi.
Congress lashes out
“’The country’s army and soldiers bow at the feet of Prime Minister Modi’. This has been said by Jagdish Devda, Deputy Chief Minister of the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh. This statement of Jagdish Devda is very cheap and shameful,” the Congress said, posting the video on X.
“This is an insult to the valour and courage of the army. When the whole country is bowing in front of the army today, at that time, BJP leaders are expressing their low thinking about our brave army. BJP and Jagdish Devda should apologise. They should be removed from their posts,” it added.
Jagdish Devda clarifies stance
Following the outrage on social media, Devda said that Congress had altered his statement, and he actually meant that the entire nation bows down to the Army.
“Congress is presenting it in the wrong way. My statement has been altered and is being presented in the wrong way. I said that the country’s military has done tremendous work in Operation Sindoor, and the people of the country bow to the Indian military,” he said.
He demanded strict action against those who were conspiring against him.
“Those who are conspiring, I think, should face strict action. What I meant was ‘desh ki janta Bharat ki sena ke charnon me natmastak hai’ (people of the country have their heads bowed down at the Army’s feet),” Shah said.
