Rafale Deal Controversy: In the Narendra Modi era, every decision associated with the defense actor has been taken with meticulous care. The reason behind such is to avoid controversy and any scam, especially in direct comparison to the UPA regime.
Anyhow, the no-confidence debate in Lok Sabha came up with a controversy. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged in his speech that PM Narendra Modi and Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had lied in claiming that a secrecy clause debarred them from disclosing the commercial aspects of the Rafale deal. In other words, he complained of the secrecy for increase in the price of Rafale fighter jets from Rs 520 crore to Rs 1600 crore.
The French government had clarified on this in a very transparent manner. French foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement,”These provisions naturally apply to the IGA (intergovernmental agreement) concluded on 23 September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapons.”
Also Read: Is The Congress Party Defaming India On Rafale Deal?
Rahul Gandhi has time and again claimed that the price of the fighter jets was much higher than that finalized by the UPA government which had negotiated a deal for 126 aircraft. Even the Congress official line of attack was the nature of the deal.
According to them, the deal was sealed at a higher price at a loss to the taxman to favor a businessman. The Congress Party even pointed out that the NDA government was not following the example set by UPA Government. The UPA government had given pricing details of the fighter jets such as Sukhoi-30 MKI.
There is no denying the fact that the whole sequence of events point out that Rahul Gandhi has lied in the Parliament. And it has been done or performed deliberately to demean the current NDA government.
Side by side whenever any issue is intertwined with bilateral affairs, any such irresponsible remark may create an uncomfortable situation between two nations. Thus in future, Rahul Gandhi, if at all wants to promote himself as a mass leader, needs to be matured enough.
