Sushma Swaraj said voters should be asked about the opposition's allegations.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today indicated that her party will not shy away from making the country's military action against Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack an election issue, news agency PTI has reported.
"We should ask questions about whether our jawans should count the dead bodies (after dropping bombs on terror camps) or return safely after carrying out the air strike. BJP workers should counter-question those who raise doubts about the impact of our air strike," news agency PTI quoted Ms Swaraj as saying at a gathering of BJP women workers.
The February 26 air strike became the centre of a political slugfest after BJP president Amit Shah claimed in a Gujarat election rally that over 250 terrorists were killed in the air strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp. While opposition parties questioned the methodology adopted by Mr Shah to arrive at such a figure, the IAF maintained that it "does not count human casualties, only what has been hit and what hasn't".
According to PTI, Ms Swaraj said her party will publish leaflets containing questions on the Balakot air strikes. "We should ask questions like whether you (the voter) will support parties that side with separatists. We should ask people whether they want to vote for those who question the valor of our jawans," the news agency quoted her as saying.
Ms Swaraj reportedly said that the BJP will issue two leaflets, one of which will contain information on the government's welfare schemes for women and the other with questions countering those raised by the opposition on the Balakot air strikes. The leaflets will be made available soon, she added.
Yesterday, the Election Commission had asked political parties to keep the armed forces out of their campaigns ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
(With inputs from PTI)