New Delhi, Jul 6 (IANS): After Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief J.P. Nadda attacked former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for not attending the parliamentary committee on defence's meeting, the Congress, here on Monday, launched a counter-attack and said the BJP chief had become a "poorer version" of malicious BJP spokespersons.

Hitting out Nadda, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Daily insidious comments are making you look like a poorer version of malicious BJP spokespersons."

"Had the BJP and the Narendra Modi government spent its energy in fighting China and supporting our armed forces, you wouldn't need to lie on the Chinese transgressions to mislead the nation," he said.

Attacking the BJP president, Surjewala raised question about deduction of Rs 11,000 crore 'dearness pay' of the armed forces.

"Didn't the estimates committee of Parliament, headed by former BJP chief M.M. Joshi, submit a report saying the defence expenditure was the lowest in 56 years -- since 1962," Surjewala remarked.

"Didn't the standing committee on defence, headed by Gen B.C. Khanduri, say 68 per cent of our equipment is vintage and there are insufficient resources for construction of strategic roads on the China border," he said.

When it sought the Prime Minister's Office's intervention for adequate allocation in the defence budget, the PMO chose not to act, Surjewala added.

The Congress also raised the issue of shelving of the plan to carve out 90,000-strong "Mountain Strike Corps" to counter the Chinese build-up on borders.

Surjewala said China had committed 2,264 transgressions on our territory since 2015 under the Modi government and asked why didn't the BJP government act upon this Chinese design.

"There are reports that Chinese troops are retreating, but the Prime Minister said no one ever occupied our territory. Did he then mislead the nation," the Congress leader said.