Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) said to the media today that he backs Rahul Gandhi in demanding proof of the "surgical strike" conducted by the Air Force on purported terrorist training camps in PoK, and said to Modi that "this is a democracy, you are not a king", reiterating that if people have doubts the government should answer. Based on this and previous statements by the Telangana CM, many commentators are saying that he is aiming for a national role political role in the near future.

The 'Surgical Strike' was the name of an operation popularized by the ruling BJP in which the Air Force purportedly struck terrorist training centres in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir after a grenade attack on an Indian Army brigade in 2016.