PTI, NEW DELHI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi today accused the government of “lying” to the nation on the issue of sharing details of the Rafale jet deal which was rejected strongly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the charges “distortion of truth”.
In his response on the issue while replying to the debate on no-confidence motion, Modi urged Gandhi to not make such childish allegations on such sensitive issues having security implications. “The allegations are distortion of truth.”
Referring to the Rafale deal in his speech, Gandhi accused the government of indulging in corruption in the deal and described Modi as a “bhagidaar” (collaborator) in cases of alleged graft, not a “chowkidaar (guard).
Gandhi said the French president had clearly conveyed to him during a meeting that there was no problem in sharing details relating to the Rafale deal worth Rs 58,000 crore.
Alleging corruption in the deal, the Congress has been demanding details, including cost of equipment and weapons, but the government has refused to share them citing a secrecy pact with France.
In his reply, Modi said, “Just because of one careless allegation in the House on Rafale, both the nations had to release statements. We should not indulge in such childish behaviour.”
Earlier, Gandhi made one of his sharpest attacks on the government, saying the truth is that Modi is not a “chowkidar” but a “bhagidaar” in the wrong-doings.
“I personally met the French president and asked him if there is such a pact between the French and Indian governments. The French president told me that there is no such pact between the French and Indian governments,” Gandhi said.
“This is the truth, and he told me that I have no objection to it (details of Rafale deal) being made public, you can tell it to entire India,” he said.
After the statement by the French official, Gandhi said he stood by his statement.
The Congress president alleged that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was lying to the country under pressure from the prime minister.
“Who is being helped, why is the help being given, Niramala ji, the prime minister should tell the country.”
Vehemently rejecting the charges, Sitharaman said the secrecy agreement with France was signed in 2008 and the Rafale deal was covered under it. “As per article 10 of the Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) between India and France, on purchase of Rafale aircraft, protection of classified information and materials exchanged under IGA shall be governed by provisions of security agreement signed on January 25, 2008,” she said.
Sitharaman said the pact was inked during the UPA regime when A K Antony was the defence minister. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar also rejected the charges.
