I am BJP's item girl: Azam Khan on his criticism for making insulting remarks on Indian Army

Lucknow: Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Thursday accused BJP of maligning his reputation in view of his criticism for his alleged derogatory remarks on Indian Army.

Talking to ANI, the controversial SP leader said, ''I am BJP's item girl, they don't have anyone else to talk about. They even fought elections here focusing on me.''

Khan said this a day after he stoked a controversy by making serious allegations against the Indian Army.

Speaking at an event in his bastion Rampur, the former Uttar Pradesh minister said, “A fight is going on at the border, but at one place, women killed soldiers. This act forces us to think that there might have been a reason for doing so.”

“Armed women killed security forces and the body part they cut off and took away pulled back the curtains uncovering the real life of India...Lady terrorists had chopped off the private parts of jawans; they did this because they had complaints with the specific part of the body. This is a very strong message and the entire India should be ashamed of this,” Khan added.

When quizzed about the likely adverse impact of his remarks on Indian Army, Khan said, ''My statement was misconstrued by the media.''

''How can Army's morale fall due to me? I am a nobody. Army's morale fell when PM Modi went to Pakistan,'' Azam Khan said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Sambit Patra had yesterday criticised Khan for making such crass remarks.

“Azam Khan never treated India as his country…. His allegation that the Indian Army outrages the modesty of our mothers and sisters in Jammu and Kashmir shows his own narrow mindset."

"Azam Khan constantly tries to speak in favour of Pakistan and break the social fabric of this country. It has become the fashion to demean the Indian Army in the name of freedom of expression," Patra said in a press briefing.

Further stressing on the same, Patra said that Khan is supporting terrorism from across the border.

"This is very unfortunate and we condemn this. Azam Khan has demeaned the Indian Army and has spoken in a way which has belittled the professional India Army. The political parties are constantly speaking against the Army and showing them in poor light," he said.

The BJP spokesperson also called the Samajwadi Party to take stern action against Khan and expel him.