Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday criticised Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav for saying no soldier from Gujarat had ever been killed. On a day the bullet-riddled body of a Lieutenant-rank Army officer was found in Shopian, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said, “Jawans from UP, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar South India and other parts of the country have sacrificed their lives but tell me if anyone from Gujarat has been martyred.”

An angry Rupani in a statement accused Yadav of trying to malign the image of the people of Gujarat. “I condemn the views expressed by the former UP chief minister on martyrs today. Such a statement is anti-Gujarat,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.

Rupani also said Yadav was frustrated after losing the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election to the BJP and was making such statements in order to feel better.

Earlier, too, Yadav had created controversy by asking actor Amitabh Bachchan, who is the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism, to stay away from promoting the wild donkeys of the state. Many found in the remark a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Ek gadhe ka vigyapan aata hai, main iss sadi ke sabse bade mahanayak se kahunge ke ab aap Gujarat ke gadhon ka prachar mat kariye [I would urge the superstar of the century to stop promoting the donkeys of Gujarat]” Yadav had said while campainging for the Uttar Pradesh polls in February.