Rahul, Nirmala spar over Rafale deal
NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that a businessman friend of Narendra Modi benefitted to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore in the controversial Rafale deal and that defence minister Nirmala Sitharama lied to the nation, under pressure from the prime minister, about a secrecy clause in the purchase agreement that prevents India from disclosing the value of each aircraft.
The allegation drew a quick and sharp denial from the government, with Sitharaman claiming that the then defence minister in the previous United Progressive Alliance government, AK Antony, had signed with the French government the secrecy clause and the current government just followed it.
Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha that he checked with French president Emmanuel Macron recently whether such a secrecy clause exists and the latter denied it. Macron, Gandhi said, told him to let the entire country know of the fact. Hours later, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said details of defence deals between India and France were classified as per a 2008 security agreement. It “legally binds the two states to protect the classified information provided by the partner,” an emailed statement shortly after Gandhi’s speech said.
Modi called Gandhi’s comments on the Rafale deal a “twisting of truth”. “Are such games played on issues related to security? The country will not forgive this. It is a matter of sadness that on a statement made here, two nations had to issue a condemnation,” Modi said. Gandhi, after his speech, had defended his comments in remarks made to reporters outside the House. “Let them deny if they want. He (French president) said that before me. I was there, (Congress leader) Anand Sharma and former prime minister Manmohan Singh were also there,” news agency PTI quoted Gandhi as saying. During his speech, Gandhi had said that the defence minister had first promised to share the price of each aircraft but later invoked the ‘secrecy clause’ to shield the information. Sitharaman, who was given a chance to speak after Gandhi, said the secrecy pact had been signed with the French government on January 25, 2008 and it covered the of Rafale deal.
She also quoted an interview of Macron to an Indian media house in which he said that this was a commercial deal and its details cannot be let known to shield the information from competitors.
Gandhi said during the debate that each aircraft was priced at Rs 520 crore during the UPA regime, and it went up to Rs 1,620 crore when Modi went to France and signed the deal. “Everybody understands the relationship the prime minister has with certain people. Everybody understands the amount of money that goes into the marketing of the prime minister and everybody knows who have fun- ded that. One of those people was given the Rafale contract.. The gentleman benefitted to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore,” he alleged.
The Congress president also sought to know from the prime minister why the contract was given to a “particular businessmen” and taken away from stateowned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the young of Karnataka, where HAL is based.
While he didn’t take any names, his reference was to Anil Ambani, whose group subsequently entered into a partnership with Rafale maker Dassault.
A spokesperson from Ambani’s Reliance Defence refused to comment on the statement.
“In the absence of specificities about the commercial and technical negotiations relating to the Rafale deal, playing political football on this issue would be the most inappropriate thing to do,” said strategic affairs expert Kapil Kak, a retired air vice marshal .