Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav: Don't need bullet train, soldiers need bulletproof vests

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav on Monday said that the priority of the country's leadership should be to ensure that bulletproof jackets are provided to its soldiers, rather than focussing on bullet trains.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Mr Yadav took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government's ambitious bullet train project and said, "Today, the country does not require a bullet train, it is more important that our soldiers get bulletproof jackets."

Akhilesh Yadav's comment comes in the wake of the terror on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama last week, in which over 40 soldiers were killed.

The Samajwadi Party leader also raised questions over intelligence agencies and called on the centre to formulate a long-term strategy for securing the country's borders.

"Why is our Intelligence failing? You can't compensate for the loss of lives. The nation stands by its security forces and jawans. If all political parties have put their political events on hold, the ruling party should do the same and form a long-term strategy to secure our borders," Mr Yadav said.

Earlier on Monday, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction from the central government to constitute a commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge along with Army, intelligence and local administration to conduct an investigation into the Uri attack in 2016 and the Pulwama terror attack.

-ANI