Piyush Goyal also accused the Congress party of colluding with the "other party", which did not get selected during the L1 bidding process of Rafale fighter jets

Mumbai: Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that because of the "delay" in acquiring Rafale fighter jets by the Congress party, the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots have to fly "MiG" fighter planes.

Sharpening his attack on the Congress party, he said: "If it were left to the Congress party, they will never let us buy any defence equipment without any interest or compensation. Had they acquired the Rafale fighter jets without any delay, our IAF pilots would not have been flying MiG," said Goyal, while addressing a gathering at 'India moving towards Super Power' event here.

The Railway Minister also lauded the IAF pilots for striking down Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) F-16 fighter jet during an aerial strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camp at Balakot in Pakistan on February 26. "Air Force doesn't have a modern aircraft. Still our pilots with their 'capabilities' stuck down the F-16 fighter jet of PAF."

He also accused the Congress party of colluding with the "other party", which did not get selected during the L1 bidding process of Rafale fighter jets.

The Union Minister also slammed the Congress for its election manifesto, stating that their proposal to repeal sedition law would be "good" for the terrorists. "Commit the crime and you will not be jailed. You will easily get the bail, too," he said. The Congress in its manifesto has said that it would do away with Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) if voted to power.