Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday shared a video of the elderly father of a soldier injured in Ladakh to accuse Rahul Gandhi of playing “petty politics”, betraying the government’s jitters at the criticism it is facing over the violent clash on the China border that has cost the lives of 20 Indian soldiers.

In the video, a frail and old Balwant Singh is heard saying: “The Indian Army is a strong army and can defeat China. Rahul Gandhi, don’t indulge in politics on this. My son fought in the army and will continue fighting in the army….”

The video has been uploaded by ANI, the news agency usually favoured by the Narendra Modi government to put out its statements, which credits it to “Amateur Video Source”.

Sharing the video, Shah tweeted: “A brave armyman’s father speaks and he has a very clear message for Mr Rahul Gandhi. At a time when the entire nation is united, Mr Rahul Gandhi should also rise above petty politics and stand in solidarity with national interest.”

Rahul had on Friday shared on Twitter a video of Balwant Singh recounting his conversation with his son Surendra, who had told him from his hospital bed that the Indian soldiers went to the Galwan Valley unarmed.

“They threw stones, carried rods and sticks. We had nothing, we were empty-handed. There was a scuffle, fighting. Somehow we escaped. God saved us,” Balwant, from Alwar in Rajasthan, is heard quoting his son in the video that bears the logo of Hindi web channel News Tak.

In the tweet accompanying the video, Rahul wrote: “It’s sad to see senior Government of India ministers reduced to lying in order to protect the Prime Minister. Don’t insult our martyrs with your lies.” This was in response to external affairs minister S. Jaishankar’s claim on Thursday that the Indian soldiers were carrying weapons.

That someone no less than the home minister and the second most powerful leader in the BJP stepped in to respond, with a video of the same elderly father directly addressing Rahul, gave away the pressure the Narendra Modi government is feeling amid accusations that it has allowed the Chinese to walk in and claim Indian territory.

The BJP continued to try to paint Rahul as “anti-national” for asking questions about the violent border clash.

Addressing an e-rally with party sympathisers from Rajasthan, from where Balwant Singh hails, BJP chief J.P. Nadda accused Rahul of trying to hurt the morale of soldiers by making “objectionable” comments.

Rahul had tweeted on Friday: “It’s now crystal clear that: 1. The Chinese attack in Galwan was pre-planned. 2. GOI was fast asleep and denied the problem. 3. The price was paid by our martyred Jawans.”

The government has not answered the questions Rahul has been raising in the run-up to the clash and after.