The controversy generated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performing a Shastra Puja (veneration of weapons) during the induction of the Rafale fighter jet in France doesn't look like it would end soon.
While Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took issue with Singh's decision to conduct the Shastra Puja, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar took a jibe at the defence minister on Thursday. Addressing a press conference in Yavatmal in Maharashtra, Pawar drew a parallel between the Shastra Puja and truck drivers placing lemons and chilli on their new vehicles to deter the 'evil eye'.
Pawar was quoted by news agency ANI as saying "I don't know whether it is true, but what can one say when lemon and chilli are hung on Rafale aircraft with the idea of protecting it from curse like it's hung on a newly purchased truck."
After Kharge questioned the need to conduct a Shastra Puja for the induction of the Rafale, the BJP slammed the Congress. In a rally in Haryana on Wednesday, BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared, “We worship weapons on Vijaydashmi to take a pledge to end evil, and same was done in case of Rafale, but for the Congress it is 'tamasha'.” The BJP also brought up the Bofors scandal, tweeting, "For a party used to worshipping Quattrocchi, 'Shastra Puja' is naturally a problem.”
By Wednesday evening, pro-BJP handles on social media were tweeting images of a Shastra Puja being conducted in 1983 on the induction of the first Sea Harrier fighter into the Indian Navy. The handles highlighted the incident, which occurred at a time of Congress rule, to show the party's purported hypocrisy on the issue.
