Modi's lie on INS Viraat blown away by Navy officers: Chidambaram

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday why he "repeats lies without verifying facts" and said top Navy officers had blown away his lie about former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's visit to Naval warship INS Viraat.

The former Union minister also hit out at Modi over his comments that there was no evidence of cross-border actions under the previous UPA government and asked him to speak to the Army general who said such steps were not taken for the first time under the current government. "Another lie of Mr Narendra Modi blown away. Top officers of Navy have testified that Mr Rajiv Gandhi was on an official visit to INS VIRAAT. "I am curious: who feeds these lies to the Prime Minister? Why does the PM repeat the lies without verifying the facts," he tweeted.

Attacking Modi for not acknowledging the cross-border strikes of the UPA era, Chidambaram said, "If PM did not find evidence of cross-border actions under the UPA government, that means information is being held back from him." "Why doesn't he speak to the General who said 'this is not the first time and this will not be the last'," he asked.

Campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, Modi had accused former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of using Indian Navy warship INS Viraat as a "private taxi" by having a "family holiday" on it when he was heading the country, a charge denied by the Congress party.