Claiming that there was no need of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale fighter aircraft deal as the Supreme Court had considered all aspects before giving its order, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday that the Congress was making an issue out of it by spreading lies as it wanted the Rafale deal to be cancelled even at the cost of compromising with the country’s security.
“When the apex court has held that there is no irregularity in the deal then where is the question for a further probe.” Javadekar said while addressing media persons in Lucknow on Monday.
The Union minister’s press conference was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s media blitzkrieg wherein 70 press conferences were held across the country, seven in Uttar Pradesh, to inform the people about the Supreme Court order giving a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government in the Rafale deal.
Javadekar questioned the opposition’s wisdom in asking for a JPC probe into the Rafale deal and said that they were forgetting a basic fact that a debate was must before a JPC was formed.
“The government is ready for a discussion in Parliament. But the Congress is running away from it as it knows that its lies would come out,” he said.
Alleging that the Congress was lying on the Rafale deal irregularities, Javadekar said that it seemed the Congress was playing into the hands of anti-national forces and trying to play with security of the he country.
Without naming Pakistan, the Union minister said, “Our neighbours are armed to their teeth with modern weapons. It is time we should get modern weapons also. The Congress first delayed the Rafale deal for seven years, from 2007 to 2014, and when the BJP struck a deal, it is again trying to block it,” he said.
“The apex court has already said that the rate of the aircraft is 20 per cent cheaper than what the Congress was purchasing in 2012. Besides, Anil Ambani’s company was selected by the French company along with several others. The apex court has clearly said that there was no middleman involved as it was a direct agreement between two countries,” the Union HRD Minister said.
Javadekar also said that the first Rafale aircraft would be delivered by March, 2019 and the remaining within the next two years.
When asked whether the BJP suffered politically due to sustained campaign by Congress, Javadekar replied in the negative and said that the defeat of the party in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan was due to local issues.
“Though in MP, our party got five lakh votes more than the Congress and in Rajasthan both parties had almost equal vote share,” he pointed out.
When asked about opposition unity against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Javadekar said, “All zeros cannot become heroes.”
“Two opposition parties — Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party — have already boycotted the oath ceremony of the new governments in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. This exposes the truth about opposition unity,” he said.
In reply to another question, Javadekar said the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots was a “jolt” for the party. He said that MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath should step down and face trial for the massacre of Sikhs in 1984.
“The court should punish Kamal Nath for Sikh genocide in 1984 after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,” he said.
