With Lok Sabha polls nearing end, the words of wars amongst the politicos seems to have intensified. Firing yet another salvo at the Congress party, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday referring to 26/11 Mumbai attacks said, then Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was only concerned about getting his child a film role even as the city was under attacks.

“I am from Mumbai. You might remember the 26/11 terror attack. The then Congress government was weak and could not do anything. The then chief minister (Vilasrao Deshmukh) had brought a film producer outside Oberoi Hotel while shooting and bombing was going on inside. CM was concerned about getting his child a film role,” Goyal said while addressing business community here on Sunday.

Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh is the son of Vilasrao Deshmukh.

He also termed the erstwhile UPA government led by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as a “coward government” for failing to respond to 26/11 attacks that shook Mumbai in 2008.

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“Our Armed Forces were capable then too but the decision was to be taken by the leadership. The security forces kept hoping that they would be allowed to give a befitting reply but they were not allowed to take action. That was a coward government,” the Union Minister added.

BJP has made national security a poll plank in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls with its leaders referring to surgical strikes post-Uri and air-strike in Pakistan’s Balakot as an example of the party’s “zero-tolerance” policy on terrorism.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

First Published: May 13, 2019 09:15 IST