New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba made an embarrassing mistake on Sunday, leaving herself as well as the party red-faced over misquoting Operation Sindoor as ‘Operation Blue Star’.

The video of her gaffe, while slamming BJP leaders for ‘insulting’ the armed forces, including women officers, landed on social media and, as expected, created a sensation. BJP was quick to lap up the issue and called it a deliberate attempt by the Congress party to belittle and demean the forces.

The controversy erupted after Alka Lamba addressed a press conference at the Congress office this morning, where she accused the Centre and BJP of politicising the military operation for political gains and demanded action against their motormouth leaders for insulting the sacrifice of the Armed Forces as well as the Pahalgam victims.

Notably, Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, 2025, marked the decimation of terror bases in Pakistan by the Indian Air Force’s precision strikes. Under Operation Blue Star, in June 1984, the Army carried out a military operation to remove Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The Congress leader was, however, quick to take note of her slip of the tongue. She took to X to acknowledge her slip-up and asked the BJP not to deviate from real issues, and rather give answers on why the Modi government was hesitant and reluctant to call a special session of Parliament.

“BJP just wants to divert attention from real issues. Public knows the answers to real questions – Will BJP apologise on behalf of the leaders who made statements against a brave army officer like Colonel Sofia Qureshi? When will those who insult women from the families of martyrs be expelled from the party? Will these leaders be sent to jail?” she said in the X post in Hindi (loosely translated).

For the BJP, the Congress leader’s ‘slip of tongue’ made up for political fodder, given the political showdown over Operation Sindoor.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said this was ‘not ignorance but a mischief and deliberate’ attempt to weaken the forces and lower their morale.

“It was not a slip of tongue but slip of mindset,” he said in a blistering attack at the Congress party and also recalled past instances of how Congress leaders, including Charanjit Singh Channi questioned surgical strikes, Ajay Rai mocked Rafale prowess, and Manju Nath called Operation Sindoor a showoff.

He said that Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, are out on a mission to demean and undermine the security forces.

“Sena ka apman is Congress ki pehchaan (Insulting the armed forces is the identity of Congress)”, he claimed.

–IANS

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