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Updated: May 09, 2019 16:43 IST

The Congress stepped up its attack on Narendra Modi after the Prime Minister said that late Rajiv Gandhi used Indian Navy’s warship for a ten-day personal trip with his family and in-laws.

In an escalating war of words, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the Prime Minister of using Indian Air Force (IAF) jets for campaigning during elections.

“Modiji, Distraction & Fakery is your last resort You have made Indian Air Force jets your own Taxi! You have paid as low as₹744 for using IAF jets for election trips! Scared of your own sins haunting u, you are shamelessly pointing fingers on others!” Randeep Surjewala tweeted on Thursday.

Modi had pointed out that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had misused INS Viraat in an apparent reply to the Congress’ accusation that he referred to the country’s armed forces as his own.

‘Rahul Gandhi says the armed forces are no one’s personal forces. But the Gandhis used INS Viraat as their personal taxi when Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister was on a 10-day holiday. The ship was on duty but was diverted to pick up the Gandhis,” Modi had said at an election rally in Delhi on Wednesday.

Also Read | ‘Rajiv Gandhi used INS Viraat for a holiday’: PM Modi fires another salvo

“Rajiv Gandhi’s in-laws were also present. Should foreigners have been carried on an Indians warship? Wasn’t this playing with India’s security?” he had asked.

After that, Union minister Arun Jaitley pointed out the difference between the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress.

“The Kaamdars use India’s Naval assets to strike at terror. The Naamdars use them for personal vacations with family and in-laws,” Arun Jaitley tweeted on Thursday.

INS Viraat, India’s first aircraft carrier, was formally decommissioned in March 2017.