Those who indulge in dalali understand the word: Parrikar

MAPUSA: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday, slamming the opposition for the ‘dalali’ remarks on the surgical strikes against Pakistan, said that that BJP will not use the bravery of Indian forces for political mileage and that it was those who were involved in dalali who understood the meaning of the word.
Taking a potshot at the Congress, Parrikar said, “The submarine deal of 2006 - there was dalali in that, there was dalali in the helicopter deal, thereafter there was dalali allegation during the Pilatus trainer aircraft deal.The people, who throughout their life knew dalali, understand the word. BJP doesn’t.” Parrikar was speaking at a public BJP meeting at the taxi stand in Mapusa, his first in the state after the surgical strikes.
Saying that as a defence minister he had limitations and as such could not give a running commentary on what had happened during the surgical strike, Parrikar said, “Defence operations should be kept secret. The bravery of the Indian defence force does not need anybody’s certification," and added, “We will tell the citizens of India that the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the political power and maturity to take decisions, which the previous governments did not have.”
Accusing Narendra Modi of gaining political mileage out of the Army's surgical strikes, Rahul Gandhi had reportedly said that the government was doing "dalali" (trade) over the blood shed by Indian soldiers.
Parrikar’s earlier visit to his home state had to be cancelled due to some skirmishes reported at the border. During that visit the state BJP unit planned to give him a hero’s welcome for the successful surgical strikes with a motorcycle rally of 9,000 bikes on October 3. The rally though had to be cancelled following severe criticism not only from the opposition, but also from BJP’s alliance partner Maharahtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
In his speech, Parrikar spoke about defence acquisitions made by him. “All acquisition requirements of Indian forces have been pushed by us with speed, 2.5 lakh crore were spent on deals for procuring ammunition during my tenure of less than two years. There are about 140 different acquisitions sanctioned and contracts awarded during my tenure,” Parrikar said.
“Modi’s tour of the world was to develop foreign relations, which was proved after the surgical strikes as the entire world stood behind India,” chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar said.
Several BJP ministers, MLAs and party functionaries along with 3000-odd people attended the meeting.