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| Things are going from bad to worse for Cong | | INS Viraat used as 'taxi' | | Early Times Report
Jammu, May 9: The Congress, which was already at the receiving end in this election seasons, suffered a great setback on Wednesday, when PM Narendra Modi dug the 32-year-old history and publicly said that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi endangered national security by virtually converting the sophisticated Naval warship, INS Viraat, as a personal taxi and allowed Italians, including his wife Sonia and Sonia Gandhi's relations, to stay in the warship for 10 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (May 8) trained his guns at Gandhi family and said that Rajiv Gandhi, during his tenure as prime minister, used Indian Navy's aircraft career INS Viraat to go for a vacation..
PM Modi, while speaking at a public rally in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, said that "navy staff and helicopter were also used by former PM Rajiv Gandhi for making his family and friends' stay comfortable during the island vacation".
"Have you ever heard that someone use INS Viraat to enjoy holiday? It happened when Rajiv Gandhi was the PM of this country? INS Viraat, which was deployed on sea borders, was sent to enjoy the holiday for 10 days," PM Modi said.
The prime minister also said that Rajiv Gandhi took his in-laws, who were Italian citizens, along with him on the vacation onboard INS Viraat.
"Foreigners were allowed to enter the INS Viraat, was it not a compromise with National security?" Modi asked.
The Prime Minister, in his speech, was referring to the infamous Lakshadweep vacation took by Gandhi family in 1987.
Reports from Delhi suggest that the "Gandhi family, along with their Indian and international friends, had gone on the vacation on the uninhabited island of Bangaram in the Lakshadweep archipelago, 465 km west of Cochin", that "INS Viraat was used to transport the Gandhis and moved in the Arabian Sea for ten days". "Its daily expenditure at sea was astronomical as the Viraat travelled with an entire retinue of escort ships. A submarine was also reported to be in attendance and some defence experts questioned the justification of depriving the navy of its most effective fighting component merely to suit Rajiv's holiday plans," Reports from New Delhi further said.
INS Viraat was Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier. It was commissioned in 1987 and served for almost 30 years.
The startling disclosure -- made by PM Narendra Modi - has rendered the Congress clueless. This disclosure has all the potential of marring the poll prospects of the Congress in the remaining two phases of election. The sixth phase of election is on May 12 and the 7th and the last phase on May 19. |
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