At war memorial, PM Modi fights family first' Congress
PM says security suffered due to UPA's criminal negligence.
New Delhi: At the opening of the National War Memorial, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched an all-out attack on the Congress accusing it of adopting a “family first” approach and said national security suffered due to “criminal negligence” of the previous dispensation.
Without naming the Gandhi family, Mr Modi said it had made defence purchases a “source of income” during its rule and that investigations in all cases from Bofors to AgustaWestland helicopter deal point towards the “same first family”.
“From Bofors to the chopper deal, all the investigations are pointing to one family, which says a lot. Now these people are making a lot of effort to ensure that Rafale aircraft don’t arrive in India,” the PM said.
He said that in the next few months when the first Rafale jet will fly in the Indian skies all such conspiracies will be foiled. Claiming that national security suffered due to “criminal negligence” of the previous dispensation linked to delays in military procurements, Mr Modi asked, “Is it the nation first or the family first?”
“In 2009, the forces demanded 1,86,000 bullet-proof jackets, but faced enemies without them. Our government in four and half years bought over 2,30,000 bullet-proof jackets,” Mr Modi said as ex-servicemen assembled at the memorial in the heart of Delhi, responded with slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
He said his government has given orders for 72,000 modern rifles and bought ammunition of Rs 25,000 crore in mission mode.
With an eye on wooing ex-servicemen ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Mr Modi said that under the “One Rank One Pension” scheme the government has distributed Rs 35,000 crore. He said under his government’s pension budget jumped from Rs 44,000 crore to Rs 1.12 lakh crore.
Mr Modi dedicated to the nation National War Memorial by lighting its flame. It has been built in the memory of the Indian soldiers who died while defending the nation after Independence. Rose petals were showered by IAF helicopters and a fly-past in ‘Missing Man’ formation was also part of the event.
Names of 25,942 armed forces men who died in the service of the nation after August 15, 1947, are inscribed on the walls of the memorial in golden letters. Spread over an area of approximately 40 acres, the memorial comprises four concentric circles, namely — the ‘Amar Chakra’, the ‘Veerta Chakra’, the ‘Tyag Chakra’ and the ‘Rakshak Chakra’ on which the names have been on granite tablets.