Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami called General Bipin Rawat a brave soldier (File)
Hitting out at Congress over posters of General Bipin Rawat with Indira Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that it is due to policies of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that those who used to refer to the top General as "galli ka gunda" are compelled to use his picture in posters.
"They conducted a political programme. General Rawat was our brave soldier. It is because of the policies of BJP and Modi ji that the ones who used to call a soldier as brave as Gen Rawat a 'galli ka gunda' are now compelled to put his pictures in their posters," Mr Dhami said.
Posters with photos of Congress leaders Indira Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi with General Rawat, who was killed in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu, sprung up in the streets of Uttarakhand ahead of Rahul Gandhi's rally in Dehradun.
India's first Chief of Defence Staff and longest-serving four-star officer General Bipin Rawat, who hails from Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal, died in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8 along with 13 others including his wife Madhulika Rawat.
Posters countering those with faces of Congress leaders have also been put up in the city questioning the party's sudden respect for General Rawat.
The posters have a photograph of younger Rahul Gandhi with party colleague Sandeep Dixit with a media report from 2017 with the title, "Congress leader Sandeep Dixit called Army Chief 'roadside goon'".