New Delhi, May 4: The political row over the Surgical strikes refuses to die with both the leading political parties in India- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, indulging in war of words over the strikes. While the Congress says that it conducted more than six surgical strikes during the UPA government's time in power (2004-2014), the BJP rejected Congress' claims and called it "imaginary" stikes. Six Surgical Strikes in UPA Era? PM Narendra Modi Says Congress Referring to Video Games; Grand Old Party Hits Back.

General VK Singh, who was the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), on Saturday tweeted and rejected Congress's claims on the strikes. General VK Singh is a Member of Parliament and part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). PM Narendra Modi Throws 'IPL' Jibe at Previous UPA Government, Says 'Modi Can Hold IPL & Elections Together'.

Denying any knowledge of a surgical strike during his tenure, the former Army Chief said that the Congress party has a habit of lying. "Am sure you must have hired some Coupta to invent another story," said Singh, taking an apparent dig at journalist Shekhar Gupta, who had reported that the Indian Army had planned a coup on the Indian Army.

Read General VK Singh's Comment in the Tweet Below:

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at the Congress party in a rally in Rajasthan saying that "Congress can claim to have done as many surgical strikes as it wants, because they have anyway done it on a video game and merely on the paper." The Congress hit back at the BJP saying that by taking credit for the surgical strikes, the Prime Minister was insulting the armed forces and jawans.

The statement from the Union Minister came days after Congress leader Rajiv Shukla told reporters at the AICC briefing that six surgical strikes were conducted during Manmohan Singh government.Shukla had further stated that two surgical strikes were carried out when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister--one on January 21, 2000, in Nadala Enclave across the Neelam River and second on September 18, 2003, in Baroh Sector in Poonch.

Lt General (Retired) DS Hooda, speaking on Congress claim that six surgical strikes were carried out during UPA tenure said on Saturday that, "Call it surgical strikes, call it cross border operations, they have been carried out in the past by the Army. I'm not aware of exact dates and areas that have been brought out."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 04, 2019 02:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).