Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed Congress' allegations that the BJP government had snatched jobs from the country's youth by ignoring ndian aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in the Rafale deal.
Bengaluru, Oct 1 (IANS) Terming the Congress charges false and based on half-truths, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has denied that the Rafale deal had snatched jobs from the Indian aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
"There is no truth in the Congress allegations on the Rafale deal as they are based on falsehood and half-truths. The question of taking away jobs from HAL does not arise as the UPA government had no deal with its maker Dassault Aviation," Sitharaman said.
Blaming the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for not finalising the deal with Dassault during its tenure, the Defence Minister said the Congress campaign on Rafale was irresponsible and baseless, as its government failed to seal the deal with HAL.
She added that it was the BJP-led NDA government that took several steps to augment the production capacity of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, made by HAL.
"There were only statements but no action during the UPA period. If we have taken away the jobs, let the Congress show the agreement its then government had with the HAL on Rafale," reiterated Sitharaman.
"From the time this government came to power, it has analysed what the problem was in increasing the capacity of Tejas...I am glad to tell you that we have now given every support to increase it to 16 from 8 (aircraft).Did you (Congress) do anything to augment capacity for production of Tejas aircraft?" she asked.
Noting that the NDA government had earmarked Rs. 20,000 crore annually for HAL, which had so far received 83 more orders to manufacture Tejas, she claimed that during the UPA regime, Congress had earmarked only Rs. 10,000 crore annually.
Ms Sitharaman also flayed Congress for not helping the HAL unit manufacturing Dorniers in Uttar Pradesh, "where the first family of Congress resides."
The defence minister alleged that the entire campaign around the Rafale deal was based on falsehood and half-truths.
Asked whether dragging Robert Vadra's name into the Rafale deal prompted AICC President Rahul Gandhi to politicise the issue, Ms Sitharaman said the primary trigger for adopting spit and run tactics by Congress was its failure to spot any corruption in any of the ministries under the Narendra Modi government.
What is the primary trigger for leveling false allegations against us... I can only see, there is no corruption in Defence under Modi government. But in contrast, the UPA regime, the corridors of power were full of middlemen. So, probably that is the frustration which is bothering them," she said.
Having been out of power for four-and-a-half years, the Congress has become desperate just as a fish out of the water because it has failed to spot corruption even in the Defence Ministry of the Modi government, Sitharaman said.
