New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi again attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday over the acquisition of VVIP aircraft and wondered how many things could have been bought for the soldiers stationed in Siachen-Ladakh border in the amount spent.
During his campaign in Punjab against the farm reform laws, the Congress leader on Tuesday had accused the prime minister of "wasting" thousands of crores of rupees on the aircraft.
Tagging a media report which claimed that the Public Accounts Committee has asked for permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker to go to Ladakh over delay in procuring clothing and equipment for jawans stationed at the Siachen, Ladakh border, Mr Gandhi renewed his attack on the prime minister over the aircraft acquisition.
"PM bought a plane worth Rs 8,400 crore for himself. In this amount, how many things could be purchased for our soldiers posted on the Siachen-Ladakh border. Warm clothes: 30,00,000. Jacket, gloves: 60,00,000. Shoes: 67,20,000 Oxygen cylinder: 16,80,000," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Mr Gandhi alleged that the PM is "only concerned about his image and not soldiers".
When he was asked about the BJP's criticism of him for using a cushion to sit in a tractor, Gandhi had said in Punjab that the prime minister''s ''Air India One'' did not just have a cushion but a whole lot of luxury beds for his comfort.
Government sources had said that the process for procuring two VVIP aircraft had begun under the UPA government, and the current dispensation has only brought it to a logical conclusion.
They noted that the exercise had begun in 2011 and an Inter-Ministerial Group submitted its recommendations in 2012 after meeting for 10 times.
Taking a swipe at Mr Gandhi, they had said like most other initiatives of the Congress-led UPA government, he perhaps wants to "disown" this procurement too.