The BJP’s attack on the late Rajesh Pilot over the 1966 Mizoram bombing controversy became an occasion for Congress rivals in Rajasthan to close ranks on Wednesday, as Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot lambasted the BJP for insulting the Congress leader, who had served in the Indian Air Force and died in 2000.
The late Rajesh Pilot, who resigned as a Squadron Leader and joined politics in 1979, was the father of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot. BJP IT department head Amit Malviya had claimed that Rajesh Pilot and Suresh Kalmadi had dropped bombs as Air Force pilots in Mizoram in March 1966 and were rewarded in politics for carrying out air raids “on their own people”.
Mr. Gehlot said here that the late Rajesh Pilot was a “brave pilot” of the Indian Air Force. “By insulting him, the BJP is insulting the sacrifice of the Indian Air Force. The entire country should condemn this act,” Mr. Gehlot posted on X (formerly Twitter).
