Even as the nation is celebrating the return of its brave heart, IAF Wing Commander, Abhinandan Varthaman, the Congress led by its president Rahul Gandhi cannot help itself in politicising India’s armed forces in face of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. PM Modi stated on Saturday that India was feeling the absence of Rafale jets and results would have been different had the French aircraft been already inducted in the Indian Air Force. The Congress which has been responsible for the delay in the induction of the Medium multi-role combat fighter jet would have been deeply embarrassed if even a little bit of shame had been left in the grand old party. But given what the party has turned into, it naturally tried counter-attacking the Modi government with more lies about the Rafale deal.
Congress president, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Dear PM, Have you no shame at all? YOU stole 30,000 Cr and gave it to your friend Anil. YOU are solely responsible for the delay in the arrival of the RAFALE jets. YOU are WHY brave IAF pilots like Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, are risking their lives flying outdated jets.”
Dear PM,
Have you no shame at all?
YOU stole 30,000 Cr and gave it to your friend Anil.
YOU are solely responsible for the delay in the arrival of the RAFALE jets.
YOU are WHY brave IAF pilots like Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, are risking their lives flying outdated jets. https://t.co/BrzAuFTlFu
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 2, 2019
It is absurd how the Congress president is shamelessly attacking the government of the day even though it has been the monumental misgovernance and ignorance of the IAF on the part of successive Congress governments due to which the MiG-21 is still a part of the Indian Air Force and its pilots have to use the vintage aircrafts which are highly unsafe for them.
If one were to take a look at the correct Rafale timeline, the bizarre indecisiveness of the Congress would be revealed. The IAF had sent a proposal for purchase of 126 Medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) way back in 2007. The Congress-led UPA government stayed in power till 2014. However, in this long period of seven years, the previous government failed to sign the Rafale deal and the IAF pilots had to wait. They had to wait because the previous government was not sensitive enough towards their requirements and safety.
After making the IAF wait for seven years, the then Defence Minister, A K Antony bluntly stated in February 2014 that India would not sign a $20 billion deal to acquire fighter jets for the Indian Air Force. The bizarre reason that the UPA government had given for deferring the crucial defence deal was that the military had run out of money for that fiscal year.
What Modi government has achieved has therefore been a brilliant turnaround. In the UPA era, the deal was deferred due to lack of money and the Rafale deal was finally signed after the Modi government came to power. A deal for 36 Rafale jets was finally signed in September 2016. As per reports, the IAF is all set to induct Rafale in 2020. Therefore, the Modi government has staged an unbelievable turnaround. The NDA government inherited a disastrous legacy from the previous government and has brought about a landmark change.
Rahul Gandhi is either an ignorant or a habitual and shameless liar. Whatever may be his problem, he is not doing the Congress any good. His falsehoods are too naive to mislead the nation. Every time he criticises the Modi government over the Rafale deal, the incompetence of the previous Congress-led UPA government is busted. The electorate is going to make the Congress pay heavily in the upcoming parliamentary elections.