Lok Sabha adjourned briefly over Rafale row

The Lok Sabha was briefly adjourned on Thursday over the issue of Rafale jet deal after the Congress members created a ruckus.

Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge raised the issue during the Zero Hour and said that national security has been compromised. The government is trying to mislead the nation on the Rafale deal with France, he added.

Kharge said that under the UPA government, the Rafale deal was finalised at Rs 526 crore per aircraft. "Now there is a three-times increase in the price of the aircrafts to 1,600 crore per aircraft," he said.

"Rafale is the biggest scam of the country worth Rs 45,000 crore," he said. He demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to be constituted.

After Kharge's statement, all the Congress leaders approached the Speaker's podium with placards that said "Stop misleading the Parliament and people" and "Constitute a JPC on Rafale" etc.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan then adjourned the House for 20 minutes till 1 p.m.

The House was earlier adjourned for 10 minutes during the Question Hour after the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) members created ruckus over the allocation of defence land in that state.

--IANS

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