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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Lok Sabha on Friday that the entire campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been built on falsehood and is misleading the nation with untruth. Countering Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s charges, she said the Amethi MP was shedding crocodile’s tears on Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as the public sector aircraft maker was treated badly under the erstwhile UPA regime.
She said the Congress is “severely under the heat” because the alleged middleman in AgustaWestland case Christian Michel has come to India and is going to “speak a lot” on it. “What is AugustaWestland giving you? Helicopters, right? Why could you not give that helicopter order to HAL? Why did you go to AgustaWestland? It is just because HAL will not give you anything. You have to get Michel today to say what else was given in AgustaWestland. This entire campaign has been based on falsehood and totally irresponsible allegations,” she said.
Sitharaman said the Congress used unparliamentary words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the discussions on Rafale inside and outside Parliament. “Nobody has a right to call me or the Prime Pinister a thief and a liar,” she said.
Much better deal
She reiterated that the NDA got a much better deal than the negotiated price by the UPA government. On the questions about offset partners, she said it was not a part of negotiations and the government was not involved in its selection.
She said while Bofors brought the Congress down, Rafale will make Modi PM again. “I don’t want to talk about Bofors because it was a scam and Rafale is not. Bofors brought them down. Rafale will bring us back to transform India and... end corruption which is stinking around the Congress,” she said. She maintained it was the Indian Air Force which suggested that the Centre buy two squadrons or 36 Rafale jets in fly-away condition instead of 18, as planned to be purchased under the Congress-led UPA government. “Comparing the cost of ₹526 crore with ₹1,600 crore, is like comparing apples to oranges. The cost quoted in 2007 will not remain the same in 2016, because there is escalation cost and there is exchange rate variation,” she added.
Rahul Gandhi, however, repeated his four questions on Rafale in Lok Sabha and demanded an answer from the Defence Minister “The Defence Minister did not answer any of the questions I asked on the Rafale deal. She did not even take Anil Ambani’s name,” Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament after her reply.
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