India vs Pakistan standoff: BS Yeddyurappa explains his 22 seats remark

Bengaluru : Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa on Thursday tried to give an explanation on his '22-seat' remark, based on the Indian Air Force's strike in Balakot. The explanation came hours after he drew flak over his thoughts on India's retaliation against terrorist groups residing in PoK across the Line of Control.

He was quoted explaining that his remarks have been interpreted as ''out of the context".

"The atmosphere....day-by-day the wind is increasingly blowing in favour of the BJP. Yesterday''s action of destroying terror hideouts by entering inside Pakistan has resulted in a pro-Modi wave in the country, the results of which can be seen in coming Lok Sabha polls," Mr Yeddyurappa said on Wednesday in Chitradurga.

"Just now we got news that a Pakistani jet which tried to enter our border has been chased back. Pakistan has been taught a lesson, after 40 years PM Modi has done it. PM said we'd reply to every drop of blood of our soldiers and he has shown that today. Youth are celebrating; all this will help us in winning more than 22 Lok Sabha seats (in Karnataka)," said the former chief minister.

His comments were slammed both by the opposition and his partymen.

Union Minister VK Singh posted on Twitter and said, "@BSYBJP ji, I beg to differ. We stand as one nation, action taken by our government is to safeguard our nation & ensure safety of our citizens, not to win a few extra seats. https://bit.ly/2IIxfaE. This speech by Atal ji highlights our position:https://youtu.be/VXUNpQC0liY."

Yeddyurappa then posted his explanation on Twitter.

"My statement is being reported out of context. I said that 'situation favourable for BJP' which I am saying for last couple of months. This is not first time that I said BJP in Karnataka will win minimum 22 seats under the able leadership of Modi ji," he tweeted.