Rafale Deal: Rahul Gandhi Hits Back at Arun Jaitley, Seeks His Response on JPC Probe
Taking a dig, Rahul Gandhi also thanked Arun Jaitley for drawing attention to what he calls 'the great Rafale robbery' by writing a blog on it.
New Delhi, Aug 29: Hours after Arun Jaitley rejected Congress allegations of a scam in the Rafale fighter jet deal, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit back at the Union Finance Minister by seeking his response on a joint parliamentary panel probe. Taking a dig, Rahul Gandhi also thanked Arun Jaitley for drawing attention to what he calls 'the great Rafale robbery' by writing a blog on it.
"Mr Jaitley, thanks for bringing the nation’s attention back to the GREAT #RAFALE ROBBERY! How about a Joint Parliamentary Committee to sort it out?" the Congress president tweeted. In a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said a JPC probe into Rafale deal would be inconvinient for 'supreme leader' who is protecting his friend.
"Problem is, your Supreme Leader is protecting his friend, so this may be inconvenient. Do check & revert in 24 hrs. We’re waiting!" the Congress leader said in the same tweet. Earlier today, Jaitley said the NDA government made a better deal in buying Rafale fighter jet deals. In a blogpost, he accused the Congress of having seriously compromised national security by delaying the Rafale deal.
"Is Rahul Gandhi aware of the aircraft price, which was quoted in 2007 in the L1 bid? Is he aware that there was an escalation clause, which by 2015 when the NDA struck the price deal, would have further escalated the price? Would not the escalation clause have continued to escalate the price till each of the aircraft was supplied? Have the significant exchange rate variations between rupee and euro during the same period been considered?" Jaitley said.
"Can Rahul Gandhi deny that when the add-ons such as India-specific adaptations, weaponry, are installed on the basic aircraft, the UPA price, which was mentioned in the 2007 L1 offer, would be at least 20 per cent costlier than the more favourable price negotiated by the NDA?" he added.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 29, 2018 06:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).