Lucknow, Jun 16 (Zee News): Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for prioritizing fitness over deaths of innocent persons, journalists and soldiers.

“Sena ke jawan ki hatya, patrakar ki hatya, imandaar ki, majdoor ki, chhatra ki hatya sab peeche reh gaye. Pehle fitness kariye...Udhar jawan maare ja rahe theyy aur desh ke Pradhanmantri dand-baithak laga rahe theyy...Pradhanmantri fit desh unfit (Deaths of soldiers, journalists, innocent people, workers, students has taken a back seat. Fitness has been prioritized. Our soldiers were dying while the Prime Minister was doing sit-ups. Prime Minister fit, country unfit.)

The Prime Minister had released a fitness video after Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli nominated him for a fitness challenge on the microblogging site Twitter.

PM Modi, known to practice yoga regularly, was seen performing a number of asanas. Additionally, he was also seen practising breathing exercises.

The remark by Khan comes a day after Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bhukhari was shot dead by unidentified bike-borne assailants outside his office at the Press Colony on Thursday evening.

Bukhari was attacked near Lal Chawk in Srinagar, following which he was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. His personal security officer also died in the attack.

According to officials, Bukhari, who was in his 50s, was leaving his office for an iftar party when he was shot. While one of the personal security officers guarding him was killed, another policeman and a civilian were injured in the attack.

Earlier on June 14, Indian army jawan Aurangzeb was killed by terrorists in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.

His body was found by a team of police and Army at Gussu village, about 10 km away from Kalampora, in Pulwama district. He was shot in his head and neck.