UPA left behind ammunition shortage but no shortfall now: Sitharaman
New Delhi, June 5: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday targeted the previous Congress-led UPA government, saying the Army faced ammunition shortage when it left the office in 2014 and that the issue has now been tackled by the Modi government.
"When we came in, there was ammunition shortage, there is no doubt about it. People who are accusing us today should also say where did the shortage come from," Sitharaman said in response to a query at a press conference here.
"So, the debate about shortage now should tell me with all the outlays and all the decision making you want us to believe that was done before 2014, why was there shortage of ammunition then. You made the outlays, now you are alleging there is shortage now. You did not have shortage then. Why did you leave the country with ammunition shortage? Let us also look in those directions," she added.
The Minister, who compared the allocations and expenditure during the UPA government with that during the NDA government, said steps had been taken to overcome the ammunition shortage.
"Now I am telling you there is no shortage and that was the reason why powers were given to the headquarters, backed by enough funds, backed also by ... that some of the capital purchases can also be facilitated through the revenue route," she said.
The Congress has accused the Modi government of taking defence "very lightly" following a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report which highlighted the shortage of ammunition that the Indian Army was facing.
The CAG report on the Army and ordnance factories, tabled in Parliament last year, had said that the Army was battling critical shortage of ammunition, especially for tanks and artillery, and 121 out of the 152 types of munition did not meet the minimum levels needed to fight a full-scale war.
It had said in the last few years, no significant improvement was made in the availability of War Wastage Reserve (WWR), which is ammunition needed to meet the requirements of 40 days of intense war or a full-scale war.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
