GOVT SEES FOREIGN HAND IN OPPN’S RAFALE ONSLAUGHT

NEW DELHI: There is an “international dimension” to the Rafale controversy and a certain desperation in the Congress to besmirch the corruption-free image of the Narendra Modi government, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.

“We recognise there is a perception war going on. I will go around the country and counter it. No way are we going to agree to false propaganda. Now you also see an international dimension to it. Rahul Gandhi’s quote (coming) just a few days before (former French President Francois) Hollande’s comment cannot be a coincidence. There is certain desperation to blemish the government image when there has not even been a whiff of corruption in the last four-and-a-half years,” she told reporters at the BJP headquarters.

Her comments echo those made earlier by finance minister Arun Jaitley. On Friday, Hollande told a French website that Reliance Defence was part of the deal (as an offset partner) at the insistence of the Government of India. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra drew a parallel between the Opposition party and Pakistani leaders, saying both want Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed from Indian politics.

“Some people want Gandhi to become a big leader in India. Who are they? They are Pakistani leaders, and also those who stand for corruption, dynasty and politics of appeasement,” Patra told reporters. “The Congress and Pakistan have this commonality that they have frustration with Modi, and their only aim is to remove Modi anyway from Indian polity,” he said.