Full blown controversy now.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked the Modi government over its denial to share information regarding Rafale deal. Infact, he directly put the blame on PM Modi dubbing it as 'secret pact'.
Even in the past, Rahul Gandhi has asked the Defence Minister to be more forthright with nitty-gritty of the deal. However his latest salvo came after reports emerged that Nirmala Sitharaman refused to divulge details regarding the deal in Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter:
On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi said that 'Ghapla Huya Hain', i,e scam has happened. He also accused PM Modi of changing the deal during his France visit.
In November, he had tweeted,
Congress also asked why the government is covering up the details
MV Rajeev Gowda, in a written question asked, "Whether Dassault (the French aircraft manufacturer) was penalised for refusing to fulfil its contractual obligations under the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Request (MMRCA) deal; if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefore."
Nirmala Sitharaman answered , "There was no contract with Dassault for medium multi-role combat aircraft."
However, when asked about the "the cost per aircraft under the Inter-Governmental Agreement for 36 Rafale aircraft", she answered, "As per 'Article-10' of the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between Government of India and Government of France on the purchase of Rafale aircraft, the protection of the classified information and material exchanged under IGA is governed by the provisions of the Security Agreement signed between the two nations in 2008."
Congress also did a press conference raising several questions about the Rafale Deal. Some of the points raised were:
Congress accused PM Modi of bypassing procedures. Surjewala alleged, "There was no Contract/Price negotiating Committee before the procurement" They asked, " Why was PSU Hindustan Aeronautical Limited bypassed in favor of a private company?"
Earlier in Lok Sabha last year, Nirmala Sitharaman rejected allegations of any malpractice in acquisition of Rafale jets.
In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said all the provisions of Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) have been followed and an inter-governmental agreement was signed on September 23, 2016 after the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). "The allegations are motivated and baseless. The government has bought the Rafale aircraft at better terms," she said. The question was asked by six MPs, including three from the BJP, BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab, Samajwadi Party member Tej Pratap Singh Yadav and Shiv Sena's Rahul Shewale.
The Congress had alleged a "huge scam" in the deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter aircraft saying this was done unilaterally without following the DPP, without any inter-governmental agreement and in the absence of the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
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