Former MP and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday extended his support for the “nationalist voters” who are refusing to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, “because Modi has allowed China” to grab Indian land in Ladakh.
Swamy also called out the prime minister saying that his lie deprived “Ladakhis of sheep grazing”.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the BJP leader said, “I support Nationalist voters refusing to vote for Modi in Varanasi. I support vote for BJP karyakarta candidates. Why? Because Modi has allowed China to brazenly grab 4064 sq kms of Ladakh since April 2020 and told a lie “ koi aaya nahin…”. depriving Ladakhis of sheep grazing.”
However, this is not the first time the BJP leader has cornered Modi and raised the issue of Ladakh.
In March this year, Swamy blamed Modi of "micromanaging" the country. He pointed out the ISIS-claimed attack in Moscow as an example of why "micro-managing backfires".
The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a stand-off since May 2020 and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.
The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
In an interview in April with US magazine Newsweek, PM Modi had called for addressing the border situation with China "urgently", to which China said that it has "noted the remarks" and that "sound and stable ties" serve the common interests of both the nations.
(With agency inputs)