(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) Senior Congress leader Udit Raj on Sunday questioned why the Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) chiefs disclosed the outcomes of Operation Sindoor only now, alleging that someone is making them say such statements after the issue of alleged "votechori" has come to light.

He also asserted that anything can be done to divert the country's attention from the "vote theft" issue, even if it means "instigating riots".

His remarks came a day after Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi and Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, shared new details about the operation.

General Dwivedi said that following the Pahalgam terror attack, which shocked the nation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated "enough is enough" and granted the Armed Forces a "free hand" for decisive action. Air Chief Marshal Singh stated that during the operation, India downed six Pakistani aircraft and targeted nine terror camps.

Reacting to this, Udit Raj told IANS, "They remembered it now that the 'votechori' has been caught. The Army and Air Force chiefs are saying all these things now. Why? They should have announced it before. PM Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh should have said this in Parliament. Why didn't they?"

He also pointed to what he called contradictions in official accounts. "Captain Shiv Kumar had said that one of our fighter jets was lost. Even CDS Chauhan admitted in Singapore that we lost fighter jets. There are contradictions in the statements of the Armed Forces. This means they are being made to say these things now that the vote theft has surfaced," he claimed.

Clarifying that he was not questioning the bravery of the forces, Udit Raj said, "Our Armed Forces are the best. However, they are being told to issue these statements because the vote theft case has come out. Now maybe they will create some big riot or incident. They can do anything now because the entire country's attention has shifted to the vote theft case."

He further argued that such revelations should have been made at the time of the operation.

"If they had said it then, it would have boosted our confidence, and internationally, we could have gathered significant support. Trump was the one behind the ceasefire, and several countries stood with Pakistan. So why didn't they make these announcements before? If they had, our international standing would have been different," Raj added.

MENAFN10082025000231011071ID1109907858