Mr Fernandes, who is under fire from the Congress over the defence deals made during and after the Kargil conflict, said defence purchases had been made according to the requirements of the Army.
Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar here, Mr Fernandes charged Congress President Sonia Gandhi with “spreading lies” about corruption in defence procurements.
“The Congress had been demoralising the armed forces for years, especially the Congress President has been spreading lies at every given opportunity,” Mr Fernandes said.
Earlier, while addressing a seminar on ‘Threats to India’s Integrity’ he blamed Ms Gandhi for “masterminding” the controversy for the published allegations that South African arms company Denel had allegedly paid kickbacks to secure a 2003 contract for the supply of rifles to India.
He said Ms Gandhi had also “masterminded” the earlier controversy over the purchase of coffins for soldiers who had laid down their lives in the 1999 Kargil conflict. “The shock the troops underwent both in the Tehelka scandal and the coffin scam, masterminded by the Congress, is yet to be fully erased,” he said.
Mr Fernandes said the country had faced more dangers since Partition, maximum from the “so-called secular-communal divide imposed on the country by the Congress and Marxists with the backing of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.”
Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (United) today said it would hold countrywide protests on April 25 to press for making public the Phukan Commission Report and for the withdrawal of the second affidavit filed by the government in the Supreme Court, in connection with the defence deals.
JD (U) spokesman Shiv Kumar said the party had decided to hold dharnas and demonstrations at all state capitals in support of the demands.
