Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his party tweeted pointed jabs at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday, hours after the PM commissioned INS Vikrant - the first made-in-India aircraft carrier - into the Navy.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted his thanks to the Navy and praised “the many years of hard work” that went into developing and building Vikrant. His party highlighted “the efforts of numerous people who helped achieve the dream of making India self-reliant in defence”.
"Many congratulations to the Navy, the Naval Design Bureau and Cochin Shipyard for many years of hard work that has made the vision of INS Vikrant come true," Rahul Gandhi said.
{{/usCountry}}"Many congratulations to the Navy, the Naval Design Bureau and Cochin Shipyard for many years of hard work that has made the vision of INS Vikrant come true," Rahul Gandhi said.
{{/usCountry}}He called Vikrant a 'significant step for India's maritime security'.
Shortly afterwords the Congress tweeted a video of former defence minister AK Antony and said, "Any effort to pin success on one man disrespects the contribution of so many others."
Both tweets were seen as underlining the contribution of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government - in power between 2004 and 2014.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also tweeted but his was a more direct attack; Ramesh named the prime minister and asked him to recognise the 'collective effort of all governments since 1999'.
Earlier in the day the prime minister hailed the commissioning of INS Vikrant and pointed out that India had now joined an elite league of countries capable of manufacturing 'large aircraft carriers with indigenous technology'. "On this historic occasion, I express gratitude to Indian Navy, all engineers, scientists and workers of Cochin Shipyard," he said.
Designed by the Navy's in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and constructed by Cochin Shipyard Limited, Vikrant boasts state-of-the-art weapons, navigation and automation features. It is also the largest ship ever built in India.
Aircraft-landing trials will start in November and are expected to be finished by mid-2023.
MiG-29K jets will operate from the warship for the first few years.