New Delhi: Opposition parties have stepped up their attack on the Rafale deal, alleging that the government’s “complicity, collusion and conspiracy” to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “crony friend” has been exposed following former French President Francois Hollande’s comments.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said there was “clear-cut” corruption in the Rafale deal and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear his position on the issue.
Gandhi’s blistering attack on Modi during a press conference came a day after former French president Francois Hollande was quoted as saying that the Indian government proposed Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as the partner for Dassault Aviation in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale jet fighter deal.
“Why is the prime minister silent? It is a matter related to defence forces, it is a matter related to corruption,” he said.
He also claimed that various defence ministers of the NDA government have been lying to protect Modi.
Gandhi demanded a joint parliamentary committee probe to which Hollande can also be called. “We are absolutely convinced that the prime minister is corrupt… He must clarify,” Gandhi said.
“For the first time probably in Indian history, an ex-French president is calling the prime minister a thief. So, it is very important the prime minister makes it clear what his position is. It is the question of the dignity of the office of the prime minister. It is a defence-related question. It is a question of the future of our jawans, future of our airforce. What I am surprised by is the PM is completely silent. Not one word has come out after (Hollande’s) comments. The gentleman (Hollande) is the ex-president of France with whom our prime minister had a one-to-one meeting in which the Rafale contract was decided.”
He said that because of the PM’s silence, “the people of India now think that our country’s prime minister is a thief.”
“It is very important for the prime minister now to either accept Mr. Hollande’s statement or state that Mr. Hollande is lying and tell what the truth is,” he said.
The hashtag #Mera_PM_Chor_Hai (My PM is a thief) was widely being used by AAP and Congress supporters on Twitter. Congress demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe into the matter.
The Congress, from its official Twitter handle, said the former French president had exposed “the web of lies” spun by the Modi government.
On Twitter earlier on Saturday, Gandhi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Anil Ambani jointly carried out a Rs 1,30,000 crore “surgical strike” on the defence forces.
“The PM and Anil Ambani jointly carried out a One Hundred & Thirty Thousand Crore, SURGICAL STRIKE on the Indian Defence forces. Modi Ji you dishonoured the blood of our martyred soldiers. Shame on you. You betrayed India’s soul,” Gandhi tweeted.
“Cat’s out of the Bag!!! Complicity, Collusion & Conspiracy of Modi Govt in denying the PSU, HAL a 30,000 Cr ‘offset contract’ to benefit PM’s crony friend exposed!” Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted.
Also read: Indian Govt Suggested Reliance as Partner in Rafale Deal, Hollande Tells French Website
Congress leader P. Chidambaram said, “In the NDA-negotiated Rafale aircraft deal, we have got no aircraft, we have got only lies. What is the new lie that the government will put out in response to Mr Hollande?”
“Defence Minister has been called out again! This time by then President of France, Mr Hollande,” he said.
“President (former) Francois Hollande should also enlighten us how the price went up from 590 crore in 2012 to 1,690 crore in 2015 per Rafale fighter jet? Escalation of a mere 1,100 crore. I am sure the Euro equivalent would not be a problem to calculate,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari tweeted.
Another Congress spokesperson, Priyanka Chaturvedi, alleged that “Rafale Minister” and “Reliance Defence’s Publicity Minister” colluded to throw HAL out of the deal and hand it over to their dear friend.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded the immediate formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee “so that the role of the Prime Minister and government is enquired into to find out the truth of the matter”. The party said that the “Rafale deal is proving to be a first rate scam which the Modi government is desperately trying to cover up”. “The statement of the former President has exposed the claims made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the Indian government had no role in it, as a blatant lie,” the CPI(M) said.
The Aam Aadmi Party also attacked the BJP government over the Rafale deal. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday demanded that the BJP-led Central government come clean on the Rafale deal in light of former French president Francois Hollande’s purported statement “directly contradicting” its stand.
A Rafale fighter jet. Credit: Reuters/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said, “By hiding crucial facts on Rafale deal, is Modi govt not endangering national security? Former French President’s statement directly contradicts what Modi govt had been saying so far. Can the country be taken for a ride any further?”
He should be shown the door, this time.
देश की भूल, कमल का फूल !#Mera_PM_Chor_Hai pic.twitter.com/hejJY1KuhP
— Aniket (@aSoulRebellion) September 22, 2018
Kejriwal asked three questions to the prime minister in his tweets. “One, Why did you get ensure Anil Ambani gets the Rafale offset contract, not anyone else? Two, Anil Ambani has said he has personal relations with the PM. Is this relationship professional also? Who pocketed the profits from Rafale deal – PM, BJP or someone else?”
Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “The statement made by former French president Francois Hollande on the Rafale deal is shocking and it proves that the Rafale deal is a big scam.”
Rashtriya Janata Dal national spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha also tweeted about Hollande’s statement, saying he was waiting for Arun Jaitley to come out with more “brazen lies” to defend the deal.
Waiting for the blogger cum comic entertainer(who has just managed to somehow retain his portfolio) to come out with another set of deceptive and brazen lies w.r.t #RafaleDeal
बेखुदी बेसब नहीं ग़ालिब कुछ तो है जिसकी पर्दादारी है।जय हिंद
#Hollande— Manoj K Jha (@manojkjhadu) September 21, 2018
The renewed attack on Modi came a day after a French media report quoted former French president Francois Hollande as saying that the Indian government proposed Ambani’s Reliance Defence as the partner for Dassault Aviation in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale jet fighter deal and France did not have a choice.
The report in Mediapart, a French-language publication, quoted Hollande as saying, “It was the Indian government that proposed this service group, and Dassault which negotiated with Ambani. We had no choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us.”
Also read: Full Text of French Report on How Modi Govt Pushed Anil Ambani as Rafale Deal Partner
Reacting to Hollande’s reported remark that is at variance with the Indian government’s position, a defence ministry spokesperson said Friday, “The report referring to former French president Hollande’s statement that government of India insisted upon a particular firm as offset partner for the Dassault Aviation in Rafale is being verified.”
The spokesperson also said, “It is reiterated that neither the government nor the French government had any say in the commercial decision.”
The French government on Friday said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners for the Rafale fighter jet deal, asserting that French companies have the full freedom to select Indian firms for the contract.
In a statement, Dassault Aviation said it decided to partner with Reliance Defence in accordance with the policy of ‘Make in India’.
The opposition has been accusing the government of choosing Reliance Defence over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd even though the private firm did not have any experience in the aerospace sector.
(With PTI inputs)