Piyush Goyal countered Congress's Anand Sharma in parliament during a debate on notes ban.
As parliament debated the currency ban, union minister Piyush Goyal of the BJP thanked the opposition Congress for bringing up the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army across the Line of Control against terror bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in September.
"You talked about the surgical strike. We did not mention it. This is good. You have given us a certificate that we conducted precise strikes against corruption," said Mr Goyal to the Congress's Anand Sharma.
Mr Sharma, who opened the notes ban discussion in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House this morning and had said, "If you are the government, that doesn't mean India belongs to you. You have created such an environment that we cannot ask questions," alleging that the opposition's questions on the surgical strikes had been stonewalled by the government.
"If we ask questions, you start asking questions about our nationality...After the Uri attack and surgical strikes, we posed various questions about the army....You said we cannot ask questions about the army," Mr Sharma said.
The Congress has said it will attack the government on the surgical strikes during the winter session of parliament that began today. The party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers of exaggerating the government's role in the military action.
BJP president Amit Shah has advised party lawmakers to counter the opposition aggressively, saying they must be prepared to offer informed accounts of the surgical strikes and other issues that will be raised.
The government's allies, union minister Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday, have "in one voice praised the leadership qualities of PM Modi with regard to the decision to have surgical strikes and with regard to this historic, bold and revolutionary decision of a war against corruption and black money."