A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the late Rajiv Gandhi used INS Viraat as “personal taxi” on a family vacation, the Congress on Thursday said the PM is a “serial liar” and has made Indian Air Force jets his “own taxi”.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said retired Indian Navy Vice-Admiral Vinod Pasricha has clarified that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was on an official visit on INS Viraat and not on a vacation.

“But facts don’t matter to Modi. He doesn’t have anything to talk about his own achievements. [Congress president] Rahul Gandhi has been challenging him for the last six months now to debate on the Rafale deal, demonetisation, unemployment, but Modi does not have the courage to speak,” he said at a press conference.

Mr. Khera asked has any one read about former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru saying that his next election will be against Mughal emperor Humayun, or Indira Gandhi making her entire campaign against Queen Victoria.

“Modiji tells us that 30 years ago Rajiv Gandhi went for a holiday in INS Viraat. The Prime Minister is a serial liar. A senior official has exposed his lies today. Former Vice-Admiral Vinod Pasricha appeared on channels some time back and stated that this is a lie and the then PM was on an official visit and not on a holiday,” he said.

Mr. Khera, in his remarks, said Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister who asks for votes on his “failures” and Pulwama was an example of this.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.

“It was a big intelligence failure. We lost our soldiers due to this monumental failure in internal security,” Mr. Khera alleged.

The Congress leader also dared Mr. Modi to name the people he takes on foreign trips. Mr. Khera also slammed the Prime Minister for raising the Bofors issue, saying it was a BJP-led government at the Centre when the Delhi High Court gave a clean chit to Rajiv Gandhi. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government that decided against appealing the order, he said. “We will debate on Bofors provided you are ready to debate on Rafale,” Mr. Khera said.

“Those who are no more cannot respond to you. Have the courage to respond to those who are there to fight you and are challenging you to a debate on Rafale, on unemployment, on demonetisation, on rural distress on faulty implementation of the GST,” he said.

“Distraction and fakery are Modi’s last resort”

Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said “Distraction and fakery are your [Narendra Modi] last resort. You have made Indian Air Force jets your own Taxi! You have paid as low as ₹744 for using IAF jets for election trips!” Mr. Surjewala tweeted.

“Scared of your [Narendra Modi] own sins haunting you, you are shamelessly pointing fingers at others!” he said, in an apparent reference to Mr. Modi’s allegation.

Mr. Surjewala cited a media report to attack the Prime Minister. The report, based on an RTI, said the BJP paid a total of ₹1.4 crore to the IAF for 240 “non-official domestic trips” made by Mr. Modi from the commencement of his tenure, as Prime Minister, till January 2019.

“In some cases, the amount paid seemed to be quite low. For instance, the BJP paid ₹744 for a ‘H/P Balangir-H/P Patharchera’ trip by Modi on January 15, 2019,” the report said.

“Sign of ultimate cowardice”

Earlier on Thursday, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said abusing a martyred Prime Minister is the sign of “ultimate cowardice”.

“Rajivji lost his life due to their hatred and is no more to answer the baseless allegations and abuses which are being unleashed on him. Abusing a martyred Prime Minister is the sign of ultimate cowardice,” Mr. Patel tweeted.

“But who is responsible for his assassination? The BJP-backed V.P. Singh government refused to provide him with additional security and left him with one personal security officer (PSO) despite credible intelligence inputs and repeated requests,” he alleged.

Congress leaders, including its president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, slammed Mr. Modi for his barb on Rajiv Gandhi, who was India’s Prime Minister between 1984-89.