PM Modi has faced unsparing attacks from the Congress over the Rafale deal.
Highlights
- Congress picks still from trailer of new film to target PM on Rafale row
- Suggests PM betrayed state-run HAL in the contract with France's Dassault
- Congress leaders have alleged corruption in the deal for 36 fighter jets
Undeterred by the criticism and even a sedition case, Congress's digital communications chief Divya Spandana on Thursday tweeted yet another attack targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal. At the heart of it - a still from the just-released trailer of Aamir Khan-starrer Diwali blockbuster 'Thugs of Hindostan'.
The trailer of the movie, that also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh, features Aamir Khan in a role seemingly inspired by the wily, double-crossing Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. One of his punch lines in the trailer "Dhokha swabhaav hai mera (Betrayal is in my nature)" is the still that Ms Spandana chose for her strike with the caption "PM Modi to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited."
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL, the state-run aircraft maker, is the company that the Congress alleges was overlooked for the Rafale fighter jet contract with France's Dassault Aviation. The Congress alleges, in a claim bolstered by the revelation from former French President Francois Hollande, that HAL was kicked out of the agreement to favour industrialist Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence in an apparent case of crony capitalism. The governments of India and France and Reliance have vehemently denied this claim. The BJP has fiercely attacked the Congress for making the allegations as well.
But the Congress has kept up its attacks on social media. Yesterday, a day after a sedition case was filed against Ms Spandana in Lucknow for referring to PM Modi as a "thief", she took to social media again to reiterate her allegation.
"Thank you, guys, for extending your support. And for those who didn't like the tweet, what can I say? Will keep it 'classy' next time. India should do away with the sedition law. It's archaic and misused. To the folks who filed the FIR -- #PMChorHai," Ms Spandana tweeted yesterday.
The earlier tweet posted by the 36-year-old actor-turned-politician - better known in southern India as Ramya - was a photoshopped image of PM Modi painting the word 'chor' (Hindi for thief) on the forehead of his wax statue. It also bore the hashtag: #ChorPMChupHai.