Ravi Shankar Prasad hits at Rahul Gandhi over CAG report on Rafale deal
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came down heavily on the Congress party and its chief Rahul Gandhi after the CAG report on the Rafale fighter jet deal was tabled in the Parliament on Wednesday. The saffron party demanded an apology from Gandhi after the CAG said in a report that the deal was 2.86 per cent cheaper than the UPA's 2007 offer. The Narendra Modi-led party also said Rahul Gandhi's "lies" on the Rafale aircraft deal have been exposed.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also cited a Supreme Court order to say that Gandhi allegedly lied about the deal.
"We never imagined Indira Gandhi's grandson and Rajiv Gandhi's son will lie so shamelessly" he said.
"BJP demands that Rahul apologise as SC order and CAG report on Rafale jet deal have exposed his lies," the Union minister told reporters in Delhi.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday had noted that the CAG report on the Rafale deal does not mention the dissent note by negotiators and said he doesn't think its worth the paper its written on.
The government's argument on price and faster delivery of Rafale fighter jets has been demolished, Gandhi had said at a press conference. The only reason for the new deal is to give Rs 30,000 crore to industrialist Anil Ambani, the Congress chief alleged.
The government and Ambani have rejected the Congress' allegations on the fighter jet deal with France.
"You say there was no scam, then why are you afraid of ordering a JPC," Gandhi had said, reiterating his demand for a joint parliamentary committee to look into the deal.
The Congress attack came came a day after Gandhi accused the prime minister of "treason" and violating the Official Secrets Act by acting as Anil Ambani's "middleman" in the Rafale jet contract, citing an email to claim the businessman was aware of the deal days before India and France finalised it.
The BJP, however, rejected the charge, saying the email purportedly by an Airbus executive referred to a helicopter deal and not Rafale.
Reliance Defence, in a statement, also refuted Gandhi's allegation saying the "proposed MoU" mentioned in the email referred to its cooperation with Airbus Helicopter.
