Abusing me won’t win you polls: PM

Prime Minister Narend-ra Modi Sunday attacked the Congress, saying for the Opposition party the defence sector was only about brokering deals.

Mr Modi’s comments came after party president Rahul Gandhi recently upped the ante on the Rafale row by quoting a media report saying the PMO conducted “parallel” negotiations on the deal. “From the seas to the skies, the Congress has several scams associated with the defence and in the process the party did not allow the modernisation of defence forces for long years that they were in power,” Mr Modi said.

Addressing a party rally at Perumanallur, he said the NDA’s work culture was different from that of the previous governments.

Targeting the Congress, he said “Those who had the opportunity to rule the nation for years did not bother about India’s defence sector. For them this sector was only about brokering deals and helping their own set of friends.”

He referred to the “pathbreaking” step of creating two defence corridors one of which is in Tamil Nadu. He said a defence corridor will bring industry and investment options and opportunities for the State’s youth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who arrived in Karnataka on Sunday to launch various projects including the new building of the IIT at Dharwad, made use of the opportunity to castigate the coalition government terming Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy as a ‘weak chief minister.’

On the opposition attack on him, the Prime Minister said their “political culture of abusing Modi may give them some space in television but the elections are fought on one’s vision for the nation, not slander and attack.”