Congress stages walkout over Rafale deal
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha after the government rejected its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal and accused the opposition party of “misleading” people on the issue.
Raising the demand during Zero Hour, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that if the prime minister has nothing to hide, he should come forth and constitute a JPC for a detailed inquiry into the deal.
“The prime minister does not have the courage. You constitute a JPC, we will prove the misdeeds in the deal,” he said. The senior Congress leader also demanded a discussion on the issue to which Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that it had been debated in the House.
Accusing the government of leaking the CAG report on defence, Kharge said that it was tabled in the Rajya Sabha but not in the Lok Sabha.
His charge was rejected by the speaker, who said the reports were indeed tabled before the Lok Sabha — an apparent reference to Minister of State P Radhakrishnan tabling CAG reports, including one on the defence services. Responding to Kharge’s charges, Home Minister Rajnath Singh accused the Congress of misleading people by repeatedly raking up the Rafale fighter jet deal issue.
“The issue has been discussed in detail in the House and the Supreme Court has also put the matter to rest. The Congress has been raking it up every now and then. But the truth will remain,” he said.
“Politics is not done by misleading people. A person should have the guts to speak the truth,” Singh added.
After Singh’s statement, Kharge rose from his seat and left the House saying the government was not heeding his party’s demands.
Meanwhile, Reliance Defence said the “proposed MOU” cited by Congress President Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale deal on Tuesday was a reference to its cooperation with Airbus Helicopter and had “no connection” with the Rafale deal.
At a press conference, Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “treason” and violating the Official Secrets Act by leaking information on the Rafale jet contract, citing an email to claim a private business entity was aware of the deal days before India and France signed it.
“Purported email being referred by the Congress Party is regarding the discussion between Airbus and Reliance Defence regarding Civil & Defence Helicopter Programmes under ‘Make in India’,” a Reliance Defence statement said.
“The discussion on proposed MOU was clearly with reference to cooperation between Airbus Helicopter and Reliance. It had no connection whatsoever with Government to Government Agreement between France and India for 36 Rafale aircraft,” the statement said. It is in public domain that Airbus Helicopter has partnered with Mahindra for the Military Helicopter Programme, the spokesperson added.
Referring to the fact that the MOU for Rafale aircraft was signed between France and India on January 25, 2016 and not in April 2015, the company said: “From the above, it is evident that the facts are being deliberately twisted and reality being ignored.”
Accusing the government of leaking the CAG report on defence, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that it was tabled in the Rajya Sabha but not in the Lok Sabha