Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday slammed the Congress after the Supreme Court said the 'chowkidar chor hai' comment made by Rahul Gandhi in the context of Rafale issue had been wrongly attributed to it and said it was worrying that the grand old party had reached a level where it has to "depend on lies".
Modi said Rahul Gandhi was raking up the Rafale issue in an attempt to "clear" the name of his late father Rajiv Gandhi in the Bofors scandal even when "the truth" about the Rafale is already in public.
In an interview jointly to state-run Doordarshan and Rajya Sabha TV, he said that "it is clear" that there is a design in raking up the Rafale issue in foreign media.
"What I feel (about Rahul's remark) is not an issue. I know it is a lie. So it does not worry me. The worry is that over 100-year-old party has reached such a level that it has to depend on lies. The Supreme Court had to take such a view. It is not a small thing," the Prime Minister said.
He was responding when asked about the Rafale issue and how he feels when Rahul Gandhi says 'chowkidar chor hai', over which the Supreme Court made certain adverse observations.
The question was in the context of the Supreme Court, earlier in the day, observing that the 'chowkidar chor hai' comment made by Rahul Gandhi in the context of Rafale fighter jet issue had been wrongly attributed to it and demanded an explanation from the Congress President by April 22.
The Supreme Court's directive came on a contempt plea filed by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi against Gandhi, who had said over a week back that the top court had "accepted" that there was some form of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal and that "chowkidar chor hai", a veiled reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When a question was asked to Modi during the interview whether he felt that there was some "design" behind the international media publishing adverse reports regarding the Rafale deal, he said, "it is clear".
Asked how the truth would "come out" on the Rafale issue, the Prime Minister shot back: "The truth is already out." He said the CAG and Parliamentary Committee have already taken cognizance of the truth, but the media does not have the "courage" to say it.
--IANS
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