NEW DELHI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi has hit back at Arun Jaitley on the Rafale issue, saying it is time the finance minister and the Prime Minister “stop lying” and call for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe for an “uncorrupted truth” to come out. He accused Jaitley of having the ability to spin “2 truths or lies” with “fake self-righteousness” and “indignation to defend the indefensible”.
“Mr Jetlie’s specialty is his ability to spin ‘2 truths’, or lies, with fake self righteousness and indignation to defend the indefensible. It’s high time he, the RM and our PM stop lying and call a JPC to establish the full, uncorrupted truth about the Rafale Scam (sic),” Gandhi tweeted. He also tagged a media report highlighting how former French president Francois Hollande’s charges have hit the Modi government on the Rafale issue.
The Rafale controversy took a turn last week after former French president Hollande claimed that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defense’s name as the offset partner for Dassault Aviation. In response, the French government said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners for the Rafale deal, asserting that French firms have the full freedom to select Indian companies for the contract.
Jaitley earlier defended the prime minister on the Rafale issue, saying the French government and Dassault Aviation have categorically denied the correctness of the former president’s first statement. He said the French government has stated that the decision with regard to the offset contracts of Dassault Aviation is taken by the company and not the government. “This puts to rest the controversy which is sought to be created on the basis of a statement made by the former French president Hollande,” he said.
The Reliance group has rejected charges against it made by the Congress and said the government was in no way involved in securing its offset contract with Dassault Aviation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighters after holding talks with then French president Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris. PTI
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