Rae Bareli/Allahabad: In his first public outburst against the Congress after the Rafale deal verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged on Sunday that the Opposition party was trying to project Supreme Court as a “liar” and was letting down the defence forces.
Addressing a rally at Rae Bareli, Mr Modi termed defence deals by the Congress as “tainted” and dubbed Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi and alleged middleman Christian Michel as “uncles” (of the Congress). He said the Opposition party was “aligning” with forces that do not want to see India’s defence forces becoming strong. Citing a couplet from the Ramcharit Manas, Mr Modi said there were some who only accept “lies” and share these with other people.
“For these very people, the defence ministry, the defence minister, officers of the Indian Air Force, the government of France, are all liars... Now the Supreme Court also appears to be a liar to them,” Mr Modi said in his 50-minute address, of which nearly 30 minutes were dedicated to the Rafale deal.
Mr Modi said: “There are two facets before the country... One is of the government which is making every possible effort to augment the strength of the defence forces, and the second is of those forces which want to weaken the country at every cost.” This was Mr Modi’s first public meeting in Sonia Gandhi’s turf after the BJP lost the three heartland states of Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh.
Claiming that previous defence deals were tainted, he alleged that the history of the Congress in terms of such deals “belongs to (Italian businessman Ottavio) Quattrochi mama”. Refer-ring to the Agusta-Westland VIP helicopter case, he said: “We have brought one uncle Christian Michel to India a few days back.”
“I want to know from the Congress why it is agitated and speaking lies repeatedly. Is it because there is no Quattrochi mama or Christian Michel in the defence deals done by the BJP government?” he asked.
The Prime Minister said, “The Congress ruled the country for 10 years, but it did not allow the Air Force to get strengthened. Why? And under whose pressure?”
