Congress tells Parrikar to clarify remark on ex-PMs

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s claim that some former prime ministers compromised India’s “deep assets” has stirred a hornets’ nest with a furious Congress demanding him to reveal names or apologise. 

At a function in Mumbai on Thursday evening, Parrikar made the remarks in the context of a Coast Guard operation in the Arabian Sea which led to the blowing up of a suspected terror boat.

“After all, you have to build deep assets. Deep assets are created over 20-30 years. Sadly, there were some prime ministers who compromised deep assets. I am not going to disclose names. Many people know,” Parrikar had said.

Lashing out at Parrikar, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the defence minister had levelled a serious charge and hoped that he had made the remarks with “full responsibility”.

“The defence minister needs to put everything in the public realm so that people of the nation know or else he must apologise for his charge,” Surjewala said.Parrikar had hit out at the Congress for demanding evidence on the Coast Guard operation. 

“There was a demand for proof. Tomorrow, d’uring such operations, we will take along a cameraman and also the Congress spokesperson,” he said.
More details needed

Reacting to the Congress criticism of the minister, BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said the defence minister was an extremely responsible leader and his statement certainly has a lot of context and one should wait for further details.

“But I think it is a known fact that many Congress prime ministers have compromised on national security,” he alleged.