Congress in a fix as Rafale deal yet to attract widespread public attention

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad lashed out at the Modi government for allegedly censoring the media on the issue

Trying to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on every front while gearing up for the 2019 general elections, the Congress is now in a fix as the Rafale controversy has failed to garner widespread public attention.

“There is no debate taking place on the Rafale deal and no agitation while the biggest defence scam of Independent India should have been a serious talking point in houses and streets,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad said. 

He added that debates in the parliament were failing to find mention in newspapers and news channels.

Lashing out at the Modi government for allegedly censoring the media, the senior Congress leader said the media houses were under pressure not to cover the deal. The basic difference between the Congress and the BJP is that they (the former) never ever imagined telling the media what to publish and what not to, he added.

“We are living in such a political environment that emergency has not been declared, but all the provisions of it are effective for the last four years,” Azad said, adding that earlier, a single press conference of the opposition party stirred the political cauldron in the country. “What is the reason Congress has to hold 100 press conferences across the country as the reports are not getting published at the national level,” Azad said.

Had the prime minister replied on the Rafale deal, the people could have come to know about the irregularities. “But probably it will be a record in Parliament that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never replied even in the question hour,” he added.