Rafale Jet 'Shastra Puja': Mallikarjun Kharge Slams Rajnath Singh, Calls Act 'Tamasha' And 'Show-Off'

New Delhi, October 9: Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge took a dig at the government for performing Rafale's Shastra Puja by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in France terming it as "tamasha" (drama) and show off. On Tuesday, Singh received the first unit of Indian Air Force's Rafale fighter jet from France and performed Shastra Puja. Reacting to this, Kharge said, "There is no need to do such tamasha. When we bought weapons-like the Bofors gun previously purchased, no one went and brought them while showing off". IAF 'Accepts' Rafale Fighter Jet, Formal Hand-Over on Dussehra 2019.

"Our Air Force officers judge whether they are good or not. These people go, show off, sit inside (the aircraft)", Kharge added. On Tuesday, the Congress slammed the government for giving a religious angle to the handover ceremony.

Here's the tweet:

The long-awaited Rafale was acquired by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a handover ceremony in Merignac. Singh performed a Shastra Puja on Rafale as he made an 'Om' on it and offered flowers and coconut on the fighter jet. The Defence Minister then took to Twitter and shared pictures where he wrote that worshipping weapons on Vijayadashami has been a tradition in India.

The fighter jet was handed over at Merignac at a facility of Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale jets.

The Rafale aircraft is capable of carrying an array of potent weapons and missiles. Its induction in the IAF fleet will be a force to reckon with in the Indian Air Force to which Pakistan has no answer, according to defence experts.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 09, 2019 02:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).