CHANDIGARH: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday madea blistering attack on the Congress party and its leaders for questioning the'shastra puja' (weapon worship) performed by him after receiving the firstRafale fighter jet in France recently.

The Defence Minister also took a jibe on former Congrespresident Rahul Gandhi who was first among those who questioned the Rafale'Shastra puja'.

“When I wrote Om on the Rafale jet, people said why did hewrite. I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi if not Om what should I have written onthe aircraft,” Rajnath said while addressing a rally in Haryana.

Hitting back at the Congress, the veteran BJP leader saidthat worshipping weapons during Vijayadashami has been a tradition.It may berecalled that Rahul Gandhi had said that Rajnath Singh had gone to Paris toreceive the first Rafale jet because there was “guilt” in the minds of BJP leadersover the multi-crore deal.

“It seems the Rafale deal is still hurting the BJP. Why elsewould Rajnath Singh go to France to receive the first jet?” the Gandhi scionhad said.

In his speech, the Defence Minister Singh also slammed theCongress party over its stand on the Centre's recent Kashmir move.

Defending the government's move, Singh reiterated that Jammuand Kashmir is an internal matter of India and will;l always remain so. ''Iwant to ask the Congress party, do they want to internationalise the Kashmirissue?'' the Defence Minister said.

In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Congress ledby Rahul Gandhi had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafalefighter jet deal with France and alleged there were “irregularities” in it.

Rajnath Singh recently received the first Rafale jet fromFrance on behalf of the Indian Air Force.At the handover ceremony for thefighter aircraft, he said it was a “historic” moment for India and performed apuja on the jet, inscribed it with an 'Om' tilak and then took a 35-minute sortiein the two-seater aircraft.

The Congress-led Opposition, however, targeted him withseveral leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, calling it“theatrics”.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar drew aparallel between the Rafale 'shastra puja' and the lemon and chilli hung bytruck drivers to protect their vehicles from “evil eye”.