PM Modi a 'serial liar', Rajiv Gandhi used INS Viraat for official visit: Congress

Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "serial liar", the Congress on Thursday said former premier Rajiv Gandhi did not use aircraft carrier INS Viraat for vacation but for an official purpose.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Photo: Getty Images

NEW DELHI: Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "serial liar", the Congress on Thursday said former premier Rajiv Gandhi did not use aircraft carrier INS Viraat for vacation but for an official purpose. The statement comes a day after Modi accused late Rajiv Gandhi of using the aircraft carrier and its personnel for vacations with his foreigner in-laws. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said retired Indian Navy Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha has clarified that the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was on an official visit on INS Viraat and not on a vacation. "But facts don't matter to Modi. He doesn't have anything to talk about his own achievements.(Congress president) Rahul Gandhi has been challenging him for the last six months now to debate on the Rafale deal, demonetisation, unemployment, but Modi does not have the courage to speak," he said at a press conference. Taking a swipe at Modi for making allegations against Rajiv Gandhi, Khera asked has any one read about former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru saying that his next election will be against Mughal emperor Humayun, or Indira Gandhi making her entire campaign against Queen Victoria. "Modiji tells us that 30 years ago Rajiv Gandhi went for a holiday in INS Viraat. The prime minister is a serial liar. A senior official has exposed his lies today.Vice Admiral (retd) Vinod Pasricha appeared on channels some time back and stated that this is a lie and the then PM was on an official visit and not on a holiday," he said. Khera said Modi was the first Prime Minister of the country who was seeking votes on his "failures". "What has happened in Pulwama is a monumental failure of the intelligence. However Modiji dared to seek votes over it," he said. Issues such as demonetization, unemployment and Rafale aircraft deal were not the part of the debate for Modi, he said. "Modi may hold Rajiv Gandhi responsible for all this. The government has informed the Supreme Court that documents related to Rafale were stolen. Modi may hold Rajivji responsible for it. Or be it fugitive offenders who flew away with Rs 1 lakh crore," Khera said. "Modi may say Rajiv Gandhi asked him to carry out the demonetization exercise." Congress media in-charge Randeep Surjewala cited a media report to attack the prime minister. "Distraction and fakery is your last resort. You have made Indian Air Force jets your own Taxi! You have paid as low as Rs 744 for using IAF jets for election trips!" Surjewala tweeted. "Scared of your own sins haunting you, you are shamelessly pointing fingers at others!" he said, in an apparent reference to Modi's allegation that the late Rajiv Gandhi used INS Viraat as a "personal taxi" on a family vacation. The media report, based on an RTI, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) paid a total of Rs 1.4 crore to the IAF for 240 "non-official domestic trips" made by Modi since the start of his tenure as prime minister till January 2019. "In some cases, the amount paid seemed to be quite low. For example, the BJP paid Rs 744 for a 'H/P Balangir-H/P Patharchera' trip by Modi on January 15, 2019," the report said. (With inputs from agencies)