Could make for great joke had matter not involved post of PM: Yechury on Modi using digicam in '88

New Delhi: The CPI(M) on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for claiming that he was one of the first few people in India to use a digital camera and e-mail in 1988, saying it would "make for a great joke" had the matter been not so "serious involving the post of PM".

In an interview to a private news channel on Saturday, Modi had claimed that he first used a digital camera and e-mail in 1988. The statement which led to a number of memes and jokes on social media sites, has now given fodder to opposition parties to launch attacks on Modi.

"This is the latest in the long series of delusional assertions, fudged claims and brazen lies uttered by Modi. These would make for a great joke if the matter was not so serious involving the post of PM," tweeted CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury.             

In the interview, Modi had said, "I first used a digital camera in 1987-'88, and at the time, very few people had e-mail. There was a rally of L K Advani and I clicked a picture of him on my camera... I had it that time. Then I transmitted the photo to Delhi, and the photo was published in colour the next day. Advaniji was surprised."       

In the same interview, the prime minister said that he relied on his "raw wisdom" to dispel doubts of defence experts who wanted the air strikes in Balakot to be deferred due to inclement weather.

"The weather was not good on the day of air strike. There was a thought that crept in the minds of the experts that the day of strike should be changed. However, I suggested that the clouds could actually help our planes escape the radars," Modi said while talking about the cross-border strike on terror camps in response to the Pulwama attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

In a letter to the Election Commission on Sunday, Yechury had alleged that Modi's statements were in clear and deliberate violation of the guidelines which were re-issued and reiterated by the poll body before the first round of polling, making it clear that the armed forces, which belong to all of India, cannot be a subject for hyperbolic and false claims by any party.