After the highly successful and precisely executed Operation Sindoor on the night of May 6 and 7, nine well-recognised terror bases of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba were targeted. The strikes spanned from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to Bahawalpur and were completed in under 25 minutes. In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, the Congress party resorted to petty political tactics by questioning the government and demanding accountability from the armed forces, even as tensions remained high along the Line of Control and the Pakistani military leadership continued making aggressive and provocative statements.
The Congress party downplayed the significance of Operation Sindoor and the three-day conflict that followed, during which the Indian armed forces destroyed terror hubs, tore through air bases, and blew apart the rooftops and structures of enemy military establishments. Their dismissive response included claims that multiple surgical strikes were carried out during their tenure from 2004 to 2014, although the numbers vary depending on which party leader is speaking.
The Congress Party claimed that six surgical strikes were carried out during their administration prior to 2016.
Congress leader Udit Raj stated, ‘The Congress government carried out surgical strikes on Pakistan 6 times. The Congress party did not take credit for it and the valour and bravery of the army remained with it and should remain so. The army carried out a splendid Operation Sindoor, salute to it. Which surgical strike did the BJP carry out which it is promoting? Congress knows how to respect the army, how can the BJP respect the army and take credit for it? We will not tolerate the insult of the army.’
Congress leader Krishna Allavaru wrote, ‘From 2008 to 2014, Congress carried out 6 surgical strikes. But never asked for votes in the name of the army.’
Lalji Desai wrote, ‘Under the cover of Indian Army’s valour, Narendra Modi is playing political Holi with “Sindoor”! Earlier he used to call himself a ‘Chai Wala’, then he became a ‘Chowkidar’, now he is selling ‘Sindoor’! During Congress rule, 6 surgical strikes were carried out on Pakistan. Till date, no Congress government has indulged in such cheap and low politics as these traitor Sanghis are doing.’
Supriya Shrinate claimed, ‘Worked – not promoted. Entered enemy’s house and killed them – did not ask for votes in his name. This is the difference between Congress and BJP’
In this article, we will expose the hypocrisy of the Congress Party’s claim that surgical strikes were carried out during the UPA tenure. We will counter their assertion by highlighting the inconsistencies in their own statements and presenting evidence straight from the horse’s mouth—that is, from the Indian armed forces themselves.
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We began our fact-checking process by reviewing past statements made by Congress leaders. During our search, we came across remarks by the party’s top leader, Rahul Gandhi. In 2018, Gandhi stated, “UPA did 3 surgical strike but never showed off.” According to Hindustan Times, in December 2018, Rahul Gandhi said, “Do you know that like Narendra Modi’s surgical strike, (former PM) Manmohan Singh did that three times? When the army came to Manmohan Singh and said we need to retaliate against Pakistan for what they’ve done, they also said we want it to be secret, for our own purposes.”
Furthermore, we found a statement by K. Chandrasekhar Rao, then Chief Minister of Telangana and a former UPA alliance partner. On a Friday, he claimed that such “strategic attacks” are never disclosed and stated that 11 similar strikes took place during the UPA-I regime when he was a Union Minister. As reported by News18 on March 29, 2019, KCR said, “Surgical strikes happened eleven times when I was in the Union Cabinet. They are strategic attacks which are never disclosed. They do it, we do it.”
Additionally, Sharad Pawar, another senior UPA leader and now a part of the INDIA alliance, claimed in 2016 that four surgical strikes were conducted during the UPA government. According to a Times of India article published on October 6, 2016, he said, “There were four surgical strike across LOC when we (UPA) were in power. However we did not publicise it.”
Moreover, former Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot also claimed that 15 surgical strikes were conducted under UPA rule. India Today reported on March 13, 2019, “The countrymen are innocent. They think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got the surgical strikes done, but 15 surgical strikes have taken place earlier. Under the Congress rule, surgical strikes took place 15 times, but it was never said that such action has taken place.”
These are not comments from obscure or low-ranking leaders, but from four prominent and influential figures within the Congress and UPA leadership. From Rahul Gandhi’s claim of 3 strikes to Ashok Gehlot’s assertion of 15, the conflicting numbers reveal a clear lack of consistency and credibility. Such discrepancies only occur when statements are not based on verified facts. In simple terms, they were—and continue to be—lying. Although, to their credit, in recent times they seem to have settled on a common fabricated number: 6.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate shared a media clip of Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda from 2019, where he stated that “cross-border operations have been carried out in the past also” and added, “I’m unaware of the exact dates and areas.” Using this statement, Shrinate claimed that six surgical strikes took place under the Congress-led UPA government.
To verify this claim, we examined another interview of Lt. Gen. Hooda with Arnab Goswami on Republic TV, aired in October 2017. In that interview, Hooda clearly said, “The training for surgical strike started in 2015.” When asked whether India was not prepared for such operations even after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Lt. Gen. Hooda responded, “Small tactical actions across the Line of Control have been happening in the past… those things for your own domination do happen. In this case [the first surgical strike after the Uri attack], we were looking to go deeper, we were looking at much more comprehensive kind of operations. I mean, if the country is telling the army to do the cross-border strike, we are not going 100 metres, hitting the forward posts or some patrol of the Pakistan army and coming back. We have to go and look for terrorist camps, and terrorist camps are much deeper inside. Most of the action we used to take in the past were military-to-military operations along the Line of Control. But to go and hit terrorist camps and launch pads deeper inside, detailed planning has to be done.”
What Lt. Gen. Hooda essentially clarifies is the distinction between minor cross-border skirmishes near the Line of Control and a full-scale surgical strike. A surgical strike requires Indian forces to penetrate deep into enemy territory with a specific objective—often targeting terrorist infrastructure. For instance, the post-Uri surgical strike went as far as 3 kilometers into Pakistani territory. Indian commandos were air-dropped near the LoC, crossed over, and destroyed seven terror launch pads, eliminating 38 terrorists and two Pakistani soldiers, with zero Indian casualties.
Similarly, in the 2019 Balakot strike, the Indian Air Force targeted a terror facility located 6 kilometers inside Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. And during the recent Operation Sindoor, Indian forces struck nine high-value targets, ranging from the Sarjal Camp near Sialkot, 6 km from the border, to the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur, a full 100 km inside Pakistan.
If we observe this pattern—from 3 km (Uri strike) to 6 km (Balakot) to 100 km deep (Operation Sindoor)—this is what defines a true surgical strike. These are not minor tactical actions near the border; they are well-planned, deep-penetration operations with strategic objectives. Shrinate’s attempt to equate past small-scale skirmishes or border actions with surgical strikes, based on a vague quote, distorts the meaning of what a surgical strike truly is.
To further support the fact that the first-ever surgical strike was conducted in September 2016, we examined an RTI response regarding the number of surgical strikes carried out between 2004 and 2014. The reply clearly stated that the Indian Army conducted its first surgical strike along the Line of Control on September 29, 2016. It also confirmed that there is no record of any surgical strike prior to that date.
In addition, Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, GOC-in-Chief of the Northern Command, reaffirmed this in 2019 by saying, “Few days ago DGMO said in a reply to an RTI that the first surgical strike happened in Sep 16′, I don’t want to go into what political parties say, they’ll be given an answer by government.What I told you is a statement of fact.”
This RTI reply from the Director General of Military Operations—the very “horse’s mouth” referred to earlier—clearly establishes that the first official surgical strike occurred in September 2016. This leaves no room for doubt: there were no surgical strikes between 2004 and 2014, or at any time before 2016.
Therefore, it is evident that Congress leaders—from Rahul Gandhi to Supriya Shrinate—have been consistently misleading the public with false claims over the past 7 to 8 years.
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