Gandhi family used INS Viraat as 'personal taxi': PM

In a sensational charge, Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi on Wednesday accused the Gandhi family of using the warship INS Viraat as its 'personal taxi' when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister.

Addressing his first poll rally in New Delhi ahead of the May 12 election for seven seats, Modi alleged that the Congress insulted the warship by using it for Gandhi family vacations.

Modi's attack on the late prime minister comes on the heels of his allegation that Rajiv Gandhi died as a 'brashtachari no 1'.

The then government led by Rajiv Gandhi and the Indian Navy hosted his family, including in-laws, and a helicopter was also deployed in their service, Modi claimed, adding that when a family becomes supreme, the country's security is at stake.

'INS Viraat was insulted by using it as a personal taxi. This happened when Rajiv Gandhi and his family was out for a 10-day vacation. INS Viraat was deployed for securing our maritime boundary. But it was diverted to take the Gandhi family which was out for a vacation,' Modi said.

He also claimed that after picking up the Gandhi family, INS Viraat halted at an island for 10 days.

'Rajiv Gandhi was accompanied by his in-laws who had come from Italy. Question is whether the security of the country was not compromised by taking foreigners onboard a warship,' he asked.

The aircraft carrier INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987. After nearly 30 years of service, it was decommissioned in 2016.

In an apparent attack on the Aam Aadmi Party, Modi said they supported the 'tukde-tukde' gang and brought the 'nakampanthi' model of governance to the national capital.

Explaining the term 'nakampanthi', which he used in reference to the AAP government, Modi said it means 'not allowing the Centre's Ayushmaan Bharat in Delhi hospitals.'