New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today accused the Gandhi family of misusing India’s Naval assets, day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi levelled similar accusations against late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. “The Kaamdars (workers) use Indias Naval assets to strike at terror. The Naamdars (dynasty) use them for personal vacations with family and in-laws,” tweeted the senior BJP leader.
Training his guns against Congress at a rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Prime Minister Modi said that Rajiv Gandhi used aircraft carrier INS Viraat for personal vacations with family. He alleged that the Gandhi family had gone on a vacation for ten days on INS Viraat.
“Congress k naamdaar parivar ne INS Viraat ka vyaktigat taxi ki tarah istemaal kiya, uska apamaan kiya tha. Yeh baat tab ki hai jab Rajiv Gandhi pradhanmantri the aur 10 din ki chuttiya manane nikle the. (The Congress family used INS Viraat like their personal taxi and insulted it. All of this happened when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister and had gone on a vacation for 10 days),'”tweeted Modi.
“Kya aapne kabhi suna hai ki koi apne parivaar ke saath yudhpot (warship) se chuttiya manane jaaye? (Have you ever heard that anyone has gone on a vacation with their family on a warship)?’ added Modi.
Aircraft carrier INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987. After nearly three decades of service, it was decommissioned in 2016. It was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier of the Navy. INS Viraat was commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes, and decommissioned by UK in 1984. It was sold to India in 1987. Earlier, Modi had dubbed Rajiv Gandhi as ‘bhrashtachari no 1’ (corrupt no 1), in a reference to the Bofors scam.