Chandigarh: Hitting back at the Congress, Defence Minister George Fernandes on September 27 said that raking up the coffin issue was not good for the morale of the troops and derided attempts to make it a poll issue.

Without naming any party, he said, "the Prime Minister and I are accused of making money on the blood of our jawans. And, now they are talking about making it (the alleged Defence scams) a poll issue by linking it up with national security."

"If our jawans start thinking that we (the government) are making money while they risk their lives daily for the sake of this nation, they will start thinking is the effort worth it," he said and also criticised the media for blowing out of proportion anything negative.

Refuting Fernandes' charge that it was "demoralising" the Armed Forces, the Congress on September 26 said the Defence Minister was the "greatest demoralising source" for the Army.

Rubbishing the allegations on the coffin issue, he said the report by the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), which should have first gone to the President and then the Home Ministry, was "first leaked to a newspaper".

Blaming the media of starting the "lies" on the controversial coffin purchase issue, he said the Rs 1.70 crore order had been cleared at lower levels and he was not aware about the whole thing till the issue became a controversy.

"The Defence Secretary, who was competent put his signatures and I was not even aware about it," he said speaking at a seminar on "Integrated Management of National Security".

PTI