Cong leaders slam Rajnath's France visit, terms Shastra Puja on Rafale as 'drama'

Congress leaders on Wednesday termed as "drama" Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visiting France to receive the first Rafale fighter jet and performing Shastra Puja on it, and accused the BJP of politicising the defence acquisition.

At a ceremony in Merignac (France) on Tuesday, Singh formally took delivery of the first of the 36 long-awaited French-made aircraft acquired by the Indian Air Force. He performed puja on the new aircraft as he emblazoned it with an 'Om' tilak and laid flowers and a coconut, just before he took a sortie in the two-seater jet.

Reacting to the development, Congress leader Rashid Alvi said, "This is a government of dramatics. You are going to France and performing Puja, wasn't the Rafale jet coming to India? You are going to a foreign country and doing all this drama."
Congress leader Udit Raj, tweeted, "The Rafale jet belongs to France. It was protected by lemon-coconut while being made part of the Air Force. What would the world be thinking? Due to this superstition, such fighter aircraft have to be bought from outside. The day this superstition ends, we will make the jet ourselves."
He said there was no problem with performing of rituals, but it is the manner in which the event was politicised with the defence minister for the first time receiving armaments himself instead of the defence forces. "That is the issue."
He hit out at the government for "ignoring" the real problems of the country such as rising unemployment. "You are not talking about the economy of the country, it is coming down day by day."
Khera said Rafale is one of the best aircraft and "we knew it, therefore, we pushed for it. We wanted the deal to be culminated as soon as possible, but it was the Modi government which came and derailed it. As a result, we do not have Rafale in our country."
He said whenever one is trying to make any defence acquisition, "the three priorities are - the best, the cheapest and the fastest."