As Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rubbished the Congress’ charge that there was corruption in the Rafale fighter-jet deal, the Opposition party reiterated that the Centre is trying to cover up bribery in the deal and that a private company (Reliance Defence) had benefited to the detriment of state-owned HAL.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the Defence Minister of engaging in political mud slinging.

What has provoked the Congress is the statement from Sitharaman that the allegations of corruption in the deal are “shameful”. “The deal was finalised following a transparent procedure,” Sitharaman told reporters on Friday.

Surjewala asked if the Centre was hiding the purchase price of the 36 Rafale aircraft. He repeated the charge that the Modi government bought the aircraft at an amount that was far higher than the price negotiated with the company when the UPA was in power. He also said that the Prime Minister took a unilateral decision on buying the Dassault aircraft, by-passing the mandatory ‘Defence Procurement Procedure’ and without an inter-governmental agreement with France.

“Why was the public sector undertaking, HAL, by-passed for getting ₹30,000 crore worth offset contracts despite the work share agreement dated March 13, 2014 between HAL and Dassault Aviation? Why did the Prime Minister promote the interests of a private corporate entity over a public sector undertaking?” he asked.

He said the Defence Minister’s statement that the purchase was done on an on emergency basis was wrong.

“What was the need to buy aircraft on an emergency basis when regular purchase had already been negotiated? Why is it then that despite the emergency purchase and lapse of 34 months, not a single aircraft had been delivered?” he asked.

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