People murmuring whether airstrike had political purpose: Pawar

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said there were "murmurs" of doubt among people on whether the post-Pulwama attack airstrike on February 26 on a Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistan had a "political purpose".

In an interview to PTI, the Maratha strongman said cross-border surgical strikes took place every year, adding that had he been the defence minister now, he would not have milked the issue for political benefits, but would only have worked in the interest of the nation.

Pawar said being a former defence minister, he was aware of the capabilities of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, adding that no one could challenge their might.

"However, this government has lost credibility in the eyes of the public at large. That is why there are murmurs among the people whether it (the airstrike after the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama) was for a political purpose or not, whether certain actions were taken just to regain credibility," he claimed.

"Such surgical ...