New Delhi: Opposition parties, including the Congress, took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday over his remarks that cloud cover "helped" IAF planes evade Pakistani radars during the Balakot strikes, with some leaders terming the statement as "ridiculous and false". The CPI(M) has also moved the Election Commission alleging that Narendra Modi had revealed "operational details of a sensitive military mission" in a television interview with a purpose to influence voters. Rejecting the charge, senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar said, "PM Modi did not reveal anything (about the Balakot strike) he was not supposed to reveal."

National security is not something to be trifled with. Such an irresponsible statement from Modi is highly damaging. Somebody like this can’t remain India’s PM. https://t.co/wK992b1kuJ

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) May 11, 2019

Modi's words are truly shameful. Most importantly, because they insult our Air Force as being ignorant and unprofessional. The fact that he is talking about all this is itself anti-national; no patriot would do this. pic.twitter.com/jxfGmdmlx7

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) May 11, 2019

In the interview to a private news channel aired on Saturday, Narendra Modi said he used his "raw wisdom" to dispel doubts of defence experts who wanted the air strike to be deferred due to bad weather. "The weather was not good on the day of air strike. There was a thought that crept in the minds of the experts that the day of strike should be changed. However, I suggested that the clouds could actually help our planes escape the radars," Modi said while talking about the cross-border strike on terror camps in response to the Pulwama attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.
Experts who did not wish to be identified said a radar can pick up signals even in adverse weather.