Sharad Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday came out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal and said that people “do not have doubts” over the prime minister’s intentions.
The former defence minister also made it clear that the opposition’s demand to share technical details relating to the fighter jet “made no sense”.
Pawar, however, also added that there was no harm for the government to disclose prices of the aircraft.
“I don’t think people have doubts about Modi’s intentions personally,” Pawar told a news channel.
He, however, said the way Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the government’s side led to confusion in the minds of people.
“Now, (Union Finance Minister Arun) Jaitley can be seen articulating (government’s stand) on the issue (instead of Sitharaman),” he added.
The Congress has launched an offensive against the BJP government over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and violation of rules by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has accused the government of causing loss to the public exchequer and endangering national security by bypassing state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in favour of some businessman “friends” for offset contract.
(With PTI inputs)
