Chowkidar chor nahi, chowkidar pure hai. Chowkidar ka dobara PM banana sure hai. Desh ki samasyaon ka woh hi cure hai. (Watchman is not a thief, but he is pure and only cure. Watchman is all set to become PM again. He is cure to country's all problems), said Union Home Minister Raj Nath Singh while addressing an election rally titled "Vijay Sankalp Sabha" in Delhi's Yamuna Vihar on Tuesday.
Singh's response was aimed at blunting the often repeated allegations of Congress president Rahul Gandhi 'chowkidar chor hai' to hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over alleged corruption in the Rafale jet deal.
Attacking the Congress for levelling false allegations of corruption on Modi regarding the Rafale deal, Singh asked, "For whom will our Prime Minister take money?"
Targeting the previous Congress Governments for stalling defence modernisation, he said the Indian Air Force did not get any new aircraft for 30 years despite repeated requests.
He also asked if Modi committed any crime by finalising the Rafale deal with France when the Armed forces were in dire need of fighter jets.
"Our Armed forces kept asking for fighter jets for 30 years. They should be modernised," Singh said. "Had Rafale been there, there was no need for our air force personnel to go to Pakistan. The miracle would have taken place from the Indian soil. And these people level baseless allegations against us," he said.
Singh said the Congress did not take action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attack, but the attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district was avenged.
"Now the Congress is asking how many (terrorists) were killed in Pakistan. The brave Armed forces don't count bodies. This is for the others to do," he said. .
During my tenure as Home Minister, I gave orders that if Pakistan fires one bullet, then you fire as much as you can, he said.
Over reports of Kashmiri-origin people being attacked in different parts of country following the Pulwama attack, he asked people to protect Kashmiri students.