Cong chief playing into Pak, China’s hands, retorts BJP

| | New Delhi
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Cong chief playing into Pak, China’s hands, retorts BJP

Sunday, 23 September 2018 | PNS | New Delhi

Cong chief playing into Pak, China’s hands, retorts BJP

Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a symbol of honesty after Congress president Rahul Gandhi threw the “thief” barb at him, the BJP on Saturday rejected former French president Francois Hollande’s sensational claim on the Rafale deal, saying it does not know under what compulsion Hollande said so.

The BJP condemned as “shameful and irresponsible” Rahul’s remarks against Modi over the Rafale deal, saying no president of any party has ever used such language against a Prime Minister. 

Hours after Rahul’s Press conference, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back at Rahul saying that the Congress chief is “playing into the hands of Pakistan and China” by seeking the details of the Rafale fighter jets.

The Union Minister also said that Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the fighter aircraft, and Reliance had entered into an agreement as early as 2012 when the Congress-led UPA was in power and refuted the allegation that the Modi Government had favoured the Anil Ambani-led company.

Ruling out Rahul’s demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the deal, he told a Press conference that it cannot be done merely to satisfy the ego of “an arrogant and ill-informed leader repeating lies after lies”.

Prasad said negotiations between Dassault and Reliance Industries dated back to February 13, 2002. Prasad also cited statements of the French Government and Dassault in which they said Indian and French dispensations had no role in picking the offset partner of the private company, to brush aside the charge of corruption.

Prasad said, “What happened later between the two brothers ( Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani) we do not know but there is contemporary evidence of MoU between Reliance Industries and Dassault”. He said the UPA Government terminated negotiations with Dassault after a contract negotiation committee had chosen it as the lowest bidder in 2012 following years of process because the company did not pay it “bribe”.

“This is the most shameful and irresponsible statement which is not believed by anyone in the country or world. But by levelling these allegations you (Rahul) have smeared black paint on your face,” Prasad said.

He claimed Rahul “had no quality or capability” and held on to power because of his family connections. “I can understand the pain of Rahul and company because the corruption has stopped under Modi and doors are closed for middleman”.

He also alleged that there was pressure for extraneous considerations and “bribe” for not finalising the Rafale deal during the UPA rule despite holding negotiations for years.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday advised Rahul not to make allegations against the Government on the Rafale issue without proof. Singh said the verification of the French media report, which quoted former French President Francois Hollande on the purchase of the Rafale fighter jets, will reveal the truth.

“The Government has issued a statement on the issue. Let the verification of the report take place. It will clear the situation, it will reveal the truth,” Singh told reporters.

The Home Minister, who was in Amreli, Gujarat to attend a meeting of the cooperative societies sector, went on to advise Rahul that he should not make allegations without proof. “One should think four times before levelling any baseless allegation. One should not make allegations without proof,” Singh said to a question on what he would like to tell Rahul who has been dragging Modi’s name in the deal.

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