New Delhi: The political debate on the Rafale deal took centrestage in Lok Sabha on January 2 during a nearly three-hour debate where the opposition and the government had a bitter war of words.
Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “does not have guts” to face questions in parliament. In his reply, finance minister Arun Jaitley accused the Congress chief of peddling “lies” and “falsehoods”.
The lower house witnessed frequent adjournments as barbs flew from both sides and members tried to disrupt speeches of rival leaders. The discussions ended abruptly midway after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 24 AIADMK members for five days due to the “grave disorder” they caused with their protests in the Well of the House.
A view of the Lok Sabha during a discussion on issues related to the Rafale deal on January 2. 2019. Credit: PTI/RSTV grab
In an embarrassment to the Narendra Modi government, its ally Shiv Sena also supported the opposition’s demand for a joint parliamentary committee into the Rafale deal.
Rahul’s attack
In his speech, Gandhi referred to Modi’s comments in an interview that no personal allegation was levelled against him in the matter and said this was not true as the “entire nation” is asking him a direct question on the contract for purchase of fighter aircraft.
“He (Modi) spoke for 90 minutes in a staged interview but still did not answer questions on the Rafale issue… He does not have the guts to come to Parliament and confront questions (on Rafale) and hides in his room,” Gandhi said.
“We demand a JPC probe into matter. There is no reason for BJP leaders to feel afraid. The country will get to know that Modi put Rs 30,000 crore in the pockets of ‘double A’.
The contract was snatched from HAL (a government-run unit),” Gandhi said, alleging corruption in the contract.
‘Double A’ was an apparent reference to Anil Ambani, whom Gandhi repeatedly referred to in his speech before Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked him not to name him as he is not a member of the house.
The Congress leader described Ambani as a “dear friend” of Modi and a “failed businessman”. His defence firm was registered only ten days before it got the offset contract from Rafale, a French firm, Gandhi said, alleging corruption in the Rs 58,000 crore deal.
Jaitley’s counter attack
Following Gandhi’s hard-hitting attack on the government, Jaitley led the government’s charge in a scathing counter-attack as he referred to alleged defence scams during the Congress rule and said “conspirators” of past defence scams had the “audacity” to target the Modi dispensation.
He also ruled out a JPC probe- a demand made by most opposition leaders, including Gandhi- saying there was no need for it as the Supreme Court has already satisfied its “conscience” on the issue.
Targeting Gandhi, the BJP leader said he would have played in the lap of ‘Q’, an apparent reference to Ottavio Quattrocchi- allegedly involved in the Bofors case.
Jaitley also mentioned the recent disclosure allegedly made by AgustaWestland accused Christian Michel and referred to terms like “Mrs G” and “the Italian lady” and “her son” to attack the Congress leadership.
Attacking the Congress president, he said “There are some people who have a natural dislike for truth. Every word spoken for the last six months on this subject, including in this House (by them) are false….He has a legacy of speaking falsehood”.
The house also witnessed high drama after Gandhi sought the Speaker’s permission to play an audio tape, purportedly of a Goa minister, on the Rafale deal.
Jaitley said the tape is “false and fabricated”, asking Gandhi if he can authenticate it. He may have to face privilege motion and even expulsion in case it turns out to be fabricated, the BJP leader added.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi before the Lok Sabha session in New Delhi on January 2. 2019. Credit: PTI
Amid an uproar, which caused brief adjournment of the House proceedings, Gandhi said he would not play it and authenticate it, prompting Jaitley to say that he was “scared” as he knew it was false.
“This man lies and lies repeatedly,” Jaitley said.
The speaker also disallowed Gandhi’s request to play the clip.
Gandhi claimed BJP members were “terrified” of the clip in which Goa minister Vishwajit Rane purportedly told somebody that the former defence minister Manohar Parrikar had a Rafale file in his bedroom.
Rane has already termed the tape “fabricated”, Jaitley said.
Hitting back, Jaitley said “it is a tragedy that the grand old party which was headed by the legends in the past is now headed by a gentleman who doesn’t have basic understanding of combat aircraft.”
He accused the Congress of trying to “manufacture” a lie to defame the Modi government.
“Remember the JPC on Bofors… it said the kickback were winding up charges… it whitewashed corruption,” Jaitley said, rejecting the JPC probe demand. The JPC often works on partisan lines and cannot investigate fairly, he added.
The finance minister noted that the price of ‘bare aircraft’ has been revealed and that the price of ‘weaponised’ version cannot be told as it would help India’s adversaries.
He also asserted that the bare aircraft was 9% cheaper than the one negotiated by the UPA and the weaponised version was 20% cheaper.
Reactions
In Goa, the Congress demanded that the CBI “raid” the private residence of chief minister Manohar Parrikar to find the file on Rafale deal.
It also demanded that Parrikar and his cabinet colleagues should undergo the lie detector test.
The reaction came after Parrikar’s purported claim that he had a file on the Rafale jet deal “lying in his bedroom” and Congress president Rahul Gandhi making an attempt in the Lok Sabha to play the audio tape.
(With inputs from PTI)