Manohar Parrikar accuses Congress of spreading misinformation

PANAJI: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today accused the Congress of spreading misinformation against him and the BJP.

Addressing his party workers for the first time since his return from the US last month after medical treatment, Parrikar attacked the Congress over rising NPAs, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya.

The former defence minister also ridiculed the Congress for questionning the veracity of the surgical strike conducted by the Army in the PoK in 2016.

Accusing the Congress of spreading misinformation against him and the BJP, Parrikar appealed to BJP workers to respond to such campaigns during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"Initially,when I came to power, (some) people would create an impression that I am an arrogant person.

The Congress is an expert in spreading such misinformation," the chief minister said while addressing the gathering at a hall here.

He also asked the BJP workers to be wary of the spread of fake news on the social media.

"This is the era of information technology and there is continuous streaming of information on Facebook. Fake news is also planted. We read how people have lost their lives because of fake news. In such circumstances, the (party) workers have to shoulder an increased responsibility," Parikar said.

He was referring to recent incidents of lynchings in various parts of the country by mobs spurred by circulation of fake news on social media.

"Several fake news will float ahead of elections," the CM said.

"If we want to win the upcoming elections, we will have to inform the people about the welfare and developmental schemes undertaken by the Centre during the last four years by collecting data through all possible sources," Parrikar said.

He said some "wrong campaigns" are being run by the Opposition parties that need to be tackled by BJP workers.

"We need to be active and vocal. For example, when they speak against the 'Regional Plan' (land use plan in Goa) they should know that it was then Congress CM Digambar Kamat which had notified it.

Casinos are brought in Goa by the Congress.

The permission to allow handling of coal at Mormugao Port Trust was also given by the Congress party," Parrikar said.

He said defaulters like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi were given bank loans during the tenure of the Congress.

"The NPAs are created in the country because of the wrongdoings of the then Congress government at the Centre, which are being sorted out by the current (BJP) government," he said.

Referring to the surgical strike operation of September 2016, Parrikar said, "When we did the surgical strike, the Opposition parties said that they never happened. I would have taken the Opposition party on the surgical strike. I would have told the Army to take Rahul Gandhi and do the surgical strike".

"If you want to do a surgical strike, then the most important thing is secrecy. Only four people were knowing about the strike including the prime minister, me, the Army chief and the director general of military operations besides Army's Zone Commander and the Commander in Srinagar," he said.

The Army had reported on September 29, 2016, eleven days after the Uri attack that claimed 18 jawans, that it had conducted surgical strikes against suspected militant launch pads in the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.