Rahul says defence minister should quit

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday escalated its attacks on the Modi government over the Rafale deal with party chief Rahul Gandhi demanding defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s resignation for “lying” on the capability of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to build the fighter aircraft.

“The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again. The former HAL Chief, TS Raju, has nailed her lie, that HAL didn’t have the capability to build the RAFALE. Her position is untenable & she must resign,” Gandhi tweeted.

He was referring to a September 20 Hindustan Times report

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The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again... Her position is untenable & she must resign

RAHUL GANDHI, Congress chief

on the former HAL chief’s assertion that the state-run plane maker could have built Rafale aircraft in India had the government managed to close the original negotiations with French aerospace firm Dassault Aviation for 126 fighters and that there was a work-share agreement between the two companies.

Defence ministry officials on Wednesday reiterated there were areas of disagreement between HAL and Dassault such as work-share, responsibility sharing and man-hours required for making aircraft components. They added that there were many areas of diasgreement between HAL and Dassault regarding “responsibility sharing” and “man-hours required for manufacture”.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said HAL had highlighted workshare and responsibility sharing issues in letters to the ministry in October 2012 and July 2014, but that there was no work-share agreement as claimed by Raju. They added that claiming lower life cycle cost was presumptive as work-share between the two firms was not agreed upon, adding the proposal for buying 126 jets did not progress due to these very reasons.