In his first public outburst against the Congress after the Rafale deal verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday alleged the party was trying to project Supreme Court as a "liar" and was letting down the defence forces.
Addressing a rally at Rae Bareli, Modi termed the previous defence deals by the Congress government as "tainted" and dubbed Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi and alleged middle man Christian Michel as "uncles" (of Congress).
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He said the opposition partywas "aligning" with forces that do not want to see India'sdefence forces becoming strong.
Citing a couplet from Ramcharit Manas, 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, government of France, are all lies...now the Supreme Court also appears to be a liar to them," Modi said in his 50-minute address, of which nearly 30 minutes were dedicated to the Rafale deal.
Asked about Modi comments, Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the remark should be taken seriously only if they are made by a person who speaks the truth.
"Our Prime Minister started his day in PM office by speaking a lie, working with malice and criticising Congress leaders.
"Some of such statements by the Prime Minister are providing 2 crore jobs and putting Rs 15 lakh in every citizen's account. A person who does not have truth in his DNA and has an old enmity with truth can never speak the truth", he said.
Earlier during the day Sharma had urged the Supreme Court to recall its Rafale judgment and issue notices to the central government for contempt of court and perjury, alleging the Centre had provided false information to the apex court.
"We demand that the Supreme Court immediately recall that judgment which is void. It would be in the interest of the dignity of the Supreme Court to do so, because this entire episode has dented the dignity of the highest court which cannot be allowed," he told reporters, adding that what has happened is unacceptable.
In his address, Modi said the truth will eventually triumph over the tendency to "speak lies".
"There are two facets before the country...one is of the government which is making every possible effort toaugment the strength of the defence forces, and the second isof those forces which want to weaken the country at everycost," he said. This was Modi's first public meeting that took place in Sonia Gandhi'sturf after the BJP lost the three heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the Congress andits allies.
Charging that previous defence deals were tainted, he alleged that history of the Congress in terms of such deals "belongsto (Italian businessman Ottavio) Quattrochi mama".
Referring to the AgustaWestland chopper case, he said,"We have brought one uncle Christian Michel to India a fewdays back." The 54-year-old British national is one of the threealleged middlemen being investigated by the CBI over charges of organising bribes for Indian politicians and bureaucrats topush for the Rs. 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal. "I want to know from the Congress as to why it isagitated and speaking lies repeatedly. Is it because there isno Quattrochi mama or Christian Michel in the defence dealsdone by the BJP government," he said.
Noting that after the Kargil conflict, there was aneed for modern aircraft, the Prime Minister said, "TheCongress ruled the country for ten years, but it did not allow the air force to get strengthened. Why? And under whosepressure?" Accusing the Congress of failing to provide bulletproof jackets to jawans, Modi said ".. after we came to power, we purchased 50,000 BPjackets in 2016," and that this year order forpurchasing 1.86 lakh jackets from a domestic company has beenplaced. Modi also paid tributes to the martyrs of the 1971 Indo-Pal war and said on this day in 1971, the brave soldiers of India had defeated the forces that hadbecome synonymous with terror, atrocity and anarchy.
Alleging that the Tejas project remained stuck during UPA regime, Modi said the BJPgovernment has given approval for purchase of 83 new Tejasaircraft and Rs 1,400 crore has been approved to double thecapacity of HAL for its manufacturing. He said the Centre had fulfilled the demand of One Rank One pension. The prime minister laid the foundation stone of some projects and inaugurated few others worth Rs 1,100 croreduring his first visit to Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency. At Allahabad, ahead of the Kumbh Mela beginning January 15, the prime minister asked people to "beware of parties pretending to stand for democracy."
Modi charged the Congress always tried to weaken the institution of judiciary and the judicial system.
The Prime Minister said "recently we have seen that how they made an effort to bring a proposal of no-confidence against the Chief Justice of India. Threatening the judges is a part of their old thought process," he alleged.
It may be recalled that In an unprecedented step, Congress and six other opposition parties moved a notice for the impeachment of Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra in April this year, accusing him of five counts of "misbehaviour" and "misusing" authority.
