Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanding her to quit.
He said, “The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again”, adding that “the former HAL Chief, T S Raju had nailed her lie, that HAL didn’t have the capability to build the Rafale”.
The minister’s position is untenable and she must resign, he said.
The Congress had earlier on Wednesday submitted a detailed memorandum to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) highlighting alleged irregularities in India’s purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.
A Congress delegation, including former Union Minister Anand Sharma, met CAG Rajiv Mehrishi to submit enclosures to substantiate their claim that the deal caused a loss to the public exchequer, benefitted “crony capitalists” and endangered national security. The delegation requested the CAG to launch a probe into the alleged scam.
In its memorandum, the Congress told the CAG that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is “unforgivably guilty of compromising ‘National Interest’ and ‘National Security’”.
The party said that people have “grave apprehensions” about the “suddenly shelved” deal mired by a “shoddy cover-up, self-defeating assertions, and deliberate lies”.
“Modi Government remains opaque, intransient, obscure and obstinate to cover up the Rafale scam,” alleged the Congress.
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The Congress said that the 2012 deal inked during the UPA rule placed the per-unit cost of the fighter jet to Rs 527 crore. Presenting all the details of the deal, the memorandum pointed out that France was to supply 18 of the 126 aircraft in ‘fly away condition’. The remaining 108 aircraft were to be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with the transfer of technology.
“In addition, there was a 50% offset clause requiring the Dassault Aviation to invest 50% of the sale price by way of investment in India,” the memorandum read.
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