Defence Minister Lying On Rafale Deal Again, Must Resign: Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "lying" on HAL's capability to build Rafale aircraft and demanded her resignation.

Gandhi who quoted the news report in his tweet attack said: “The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again. The former HAL(Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) Chief, TS Raju, has nailed her lie, that HAL didn’t have the capability to build the RAFALE. Her position is untenable & she must resign.”

A delegation of senior Congress leaders on Wednesday met the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in Delhi on the deal, handed over a memorandum an requested the auditor to prepare a report on alleged irregularities in it.

The Congress said the federal auditor had told the party it is "already examining" the entire issue for its report to Parliament and assured all contentions raised would be looked into.

In the memorandum, the Congress accused the government of causing loss to the public exchequer and endangering national security by bypassing state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in favour of some businessman "friends" for offset contract.

The party has alleged that the fresh deal for Rafale fighter jets with France was inked by the Modi government at a cost much higher than that negotiated by the previous UPA government headed by the party.

The government has been maintaining that HAL could not finalise the offset deal during the UPA dispensation as the then Manmohan Singh government did not support the public-sector aerospace company to enhance its infrastructure for manufacturing the aircraft in India under the transfer of technology.

Agencies