New Delhi:
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi again attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday over the acquisition of a VVIP plane and wondered how many things could have been bought for soldiers stationed at the Siachen-Ladakh border in the amount spent.
During his campaign in Punjab against the agricultural reform laws, the congressman on Tuesday accused the prime minister of “wasting” thousands of crore rupees on the plane.
Tagging a press report which claimed that the Public Accounts Committee asked the President of Lok Sabha for permission to travel to Ladakh due to a delay in purchasing clothing and equipment for the jawans stationed at the border of Siachen, Ladakh, Mr. Gandhi renewed his attack on the Prime Minister on the acquisition of the aircraft.
“PM bought a plane worth Rs 8,400 crore for himself. In that amount, how many things could be bought for our soldiers stationed at the Siachen-Ladakh border. Warm clothes: 30,000,000. Jacket, gloves: 60,000,000. Shoes: 67.20,000 oxygen cylinders: 16.80,000, ”he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Mr. Gandhi alleged that the prime minister “only cares about his image and not the soldiers”.
When asked about the BJP’s criticism of him for using a cushion to sit in a tractor, Gandhi told the Punjab that the prime minister’s “ Air India One ” didn’t just a pillow, but plenty of luxury beds for its comfort.
Government sources had said that the process of purchasing two VVIP planes began under the UPA government and the current waiver only brought it to a logical conclusion.
They noted that the exercise began in 2011 and that an inter-ministerial group submitted its recommendations in 2012 after meeting 10 times.
Taking a glance at Mr Gandhi, they had said, like most other initiatives of the Congress-led UPA government, that he perhaps wished to “disown” this market as well.
