NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav on Monday slammed Congress for maintaining silence on Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was seriously injured after his Omani co-pilot allegedly attacked him in the cockpit of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flydubai flight, saying the grand-old party feared losing minority votes.“An Omani man attacked an Indian person (pilot Smit Machchhar) with an axe inside an aircraft flying to Israel, and the Indian man risked his life to save the lives of around 200 people. Such bravery is part of Sanatan culture, but Congress leaders are not praising Machchhar for fear of losing minority votes,” Yadav said.

“Congress leaders hungry for votes should be ashamed of such behaviour,” Yadav added.Last week, Machchhar was attacked aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, which was carrying 174 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv.Despite being seriously injured, he managed to open the cockpit door, allowing others to intervene and helping prevent the aircraft from being brought down. The plane was subsequently diverted safely to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.Earlier on Sunday, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also attacked Congress and questioned why senior Congress leaders had not publicly acknowledged Machchhar’s brave actions.“For India, this is an occasion of great pride, but there are also some occasions that are a matter of shame. Not a single word, not a single post, and not a single press statement has come from the Congress family for Captain Smit Machchhar. This raises a serious question,” Trivedi said.Trivedi contrasted the Congress leadership’s alleged silence with the response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders abroad, who praised Machchhar’s act of bravery.