Yogi asks Rahul to apologise for Rafale lies

| | Lucknow
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Yogi asks Rahul to apologise for Rafale lies

Saturday, 15 December 2018 | PNS | Lucknow

Hitting out at the Congress president, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that Rahul Gandhi told lies about the Rafale fighter aircraft deal and he should apologise to the people and defence personnel for spreading canards to get political mileage.

“The oldest political party of the country has failed to perform its duty. It has threatened the nation’s security and integrity by questioning the Rafale deal which was initiated by their government but was later shelved as they could not find any middleman like (Ottavio) Quattrocchi or (Christian) Michel,” the Chief Minister said while speaking to news persons in Lucknow on Friday.

Yogi was reacting to a Supreme Court judgement in which a three-member bench gave a clean chit to the Rafale deal. The judgement came as a shot in the arm for the sagging morale of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which promptly used the verdict as a hammer to beat the Congress.

The Chief Minister also asked the Congress why its government delayed the Rafale deal during its tenure from 2007 to 2014. 

“Was the party in power searching for brokers like they did during the previous defence deals?” Yogi asked in an oblique reference to the Bofors deal.

Yogi said that Rahul Gandhi should also disclose the source of his information on Rafale deal as it seemed that his statement against the government was an attempt to weaken the country’s security. 

“The statements made by the Congress chief were more alarming as neighbouring countries are equipped with the latest aircraft and other defence technology,” he said.

The Chief Minister also suggested to the judiciary not to entertain frivolous public interest petitions (PILs) which could affect the security and integrity of the country. 

“This is a fact that these PILs were filed just to reap political mileage and defame the government. The court should take strict action against such PILs,” he said.

Yogi welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court in rejecting all petitions filed against the Rafale aircraft deal and claimed that the judiciary’s verdict was a clear indication that nothing was wrong in the deal.

“The Supreme Court judgement has exposed the false propaganda of the Congress. The grand old party defamed the Central government and the BJP merely for political reasons,” Yogi said.

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