*NEW DELHI – Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came down hard onBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its unprovoked sentiments ofwarmongering against Pakistan. *

During an interview with Hindustan Timeslink,Singh acknowledged that during the term of the Congress-led UnitedProgressive Alliance (UPA), Indian armed forces “received a free hand torespond to external threats,” however, the BJP’s “attempt to gain electoralmileage from military operations are shameful and unacceptable.”

“For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence than to beused for vote garnering exercises,” Singh, 86, said.

He further slammed the BJP saying, “In the past 70 years, a government inpower never had to hide behind the valour of our armed forces. Suchattempts to politicise our forces are shameful and unacceptable.

All this is being done to draw the attention away from unpardonablefailures of Modi government on the economic front, on jobs, on ruraldistress, on micro small and medium enterprises and the informal sector.