PTI, NEW DELHI: Ruling out scrapping of the Rafale jet deal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Sunday said former French President Francois Hollande contradicted himself and neither the Indian nor the French government played any role in selection of Reliance as offset partner by Dassault.
A political controversy has erupted over Hollande’s statement that the Indian government wanted the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence to be chosen as offset partner of Dassault, the manufacturer of the fighter jets.
The opposition Congress party has raised fingers at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded resignation of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Jaitley, in a television interview, said there appears to be some ‘jugalbandi’ (connection) between the statements of Hollande and Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
“I am surprised…On August 30, he (Gandhi) tweeted that bombs are going to explode in France (over Rafale deal). How he came to know about that?
“Though I do not have any proof of this jugalbandi, but this creates suspicion in mind…There is definitely something … a statement comes (from Hollande), then it is contradicted. But he (Gandhi) predicted this to happen 20 days in advance,” he said.
Jaitley added that there is no question of scrapping the Rafale jet fighter deal as it is meant to meet the needs of the country’s defence forces.
“Koi prashna nahi uthta. Ye fauz ki avashaktya hai. Ye desh mei ana chahiye, aur ye ayega. (No question of scrapping the deal. These (jet fighters) are needed by the defence forces. They should come and they will come),” he said when asked whether the government could cancel the deal in view of the forthcoming general elections in 2019.
Earlier in a Facebook post titled ‘A Questionable Statement Which Circumstances & Facts Demolish’, Jaitley wrote: “The former French President’s first statement rhymes with Rahul Gandhi’s prediction.”
The minister also accused the Congress party leaders of using vulgar language and said public discourse is not a “laughter challenge”.
“I have said how public discourse should be. It is not a laughter challenge. You go and hug someone, then you wink, utter lies 4-6-10 times. Your words should reflect intellect. Vulgarity and abusive language does not suit the world’s largest democracy,” he added.
