Rajiv Gandhi misused warship INS Viraat, Gandhi family used it as personal taxi: PM Narendra Modi

Addressing a rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital, PM Modi said that the Gandhi family had insulted the warship by going on a vacation in it.

In a scathing attack on the Congress, PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused former prime minister late Rajiv Gandhi of misusing warship INS Viraat, adding that the Gandhi family had used it as a personal taxi. Addressing a rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital, PM Modi said that the family had insulted the warship by going on a vacation in it. 

Clarifying the details, PM Modi said that the incident dates back to the time when the late Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister and had gone on a vacation for ten days.

"Congress k naamdaar parivar ne INS Viraat ka vyaktigat taxi ki tarah istemaal kiya, uska apamaan kiya tha. Yeh baat tab ki hai jab Rajiv Gandhi pradhanmantri the aur 10 din ki chuttiya manane nikle the. (The Congress family used INS Viraat like their personal taxi and insulted it. All of this happened when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister and had gone on a vacation for 10 days)," tweeted PM Modi.

"Kya aapne kabhi suna hai ki koi apne parivaar ke saath yudhpot (warship) se chuttiya manane jaaye? (Have you ever heard that anyone has gone on a vacation with their family on a warship)?" added PM Modi.

INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987 and formally decommissioned in 2017, serving for three decades. It was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier of the Navy. INS Viraat was commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's HMS Hermes, and decommissioned by UK in 1984. It was sold to India in 1987.  

PM Modi trained his guns against Congress saying, "When one family becomes a priority for a party, they are unable to see the concerns of the common people. The nation is looking at the fourth generation of naamdar family of Congress. But this dynastic mindset has not been restricted to just one family. All those who have been close to this family have carried forward the flag of the dynasty," he said.

"Dikshits in Delhi, Hoodas in Haryana, from there till Bhajan Lal ji & Bansi Lal ji dynasty politics is going on. Beant Singh's family in Punjab, Gehlots & Pilots in Rajasthan. Scindias, Kamal Nath's family & Digvijaya Singh's family in MP are strengthening the dynasty," added PM Modi.

PM Modi also touched upon local issues like traffic, pollution and clean Yamuna.