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Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday demanded a fair inquiry into what happened at Pahalgam on April 22 and details of Operation Sindoor.
Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan (Image: PTI)
A day after former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan sparked a massive controversy following his remarks on Operation Sindoor, the senior Congress leader on Wednesday demanded a fair inquiry into what happened at Pahalgam on April 22 and details of Operation Sindoor.
Chavan further refused to apologise for his remarks on Operation Sindoor, stating, “I have the right to ask questions, why should I apologise?”
He further stated that his statements are being distorted to divert the people’s attention from the nuclear privatisation bill — the SHANTI Bill — in Parliament that was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday.
Sparking a massive row, the former Maharashtra Chief Minister claimed that India was defeated on the first day of Operation Sindoor and Indian aircraft were shot down during the four-day conflict.
Addressing a press conference in Pune, Chavan said, “On the first day (of Operation Sindoor), we were completely defeated. In the half-hour aerial engagement that took place on the 7th, we were fully defeated, whether people accept it or not.”
“Indian aircraft were shot down. The Air Force was completely grounded, and not a single aircraft flew. If any aircraft had taken off from Gwalior, Bathinda, or Sirsa, there was a high probability of being shot down by Pakistan, which is why the Air Force was fully grounded,” he added.
Furthermore, Chavan questioned the need to maintain large military forces, stating that wars will be fought in the air. “Recently, we saw during Operation Sindoor, there was not even a one-kilometre movement of the military. Whatever happened over two or three days was only an aerial war and missile warfare. In the future, too, wars will be fought in the same way. In such a situation, do we really need to maintain an army of 12 lakh soldiers?”
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 17, 2025, 10:33 IST
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