Cong, BJP spar over Rafale deal

The Congress today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "lying" in Parliament on the Rafale deal, saying there was no secrecy clause in a 2008 Indo-French pact that binds the government from revealing price details of the jets, charges termed as "falsehood" by the BJP.

Days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi forcefully attacked the government in Parliament on the Rafale deal, the party fielded three of its top leaders -- former defence minister A K Antony, Anand Sharma and Randeep Surjewala -- who said revealing the "commercial cost" of Rafale aircraft will neither violate any "secrecy agreement" with the French government, nor disclose any classified or protected information.

At a press conference, they alleged PM Modi "sought to hide behind a cloak of pseudo-nationalism in the Rafale deal" during the debate on the 'no-confidence motion' in Parliament on July 20.

Antony, who was defence minister in 2008 when India and France inked an inter-governmental agreement on defence procurement, said the government's claim that a secrecy clause in the pact was forcing it to not reveal price details of the deal was "totally wrong".

Dismissing Congress' charges, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asserted that the base price of each aircraft negotiated by the government with the French government is at 91.75 million Euro, which is nine per cent less than the 100.85 million Euro the UPA government had decided upon.

For the Congress, Sharma said, "The Prime Minister is equally accountable. He is equally responsible. He too enthusiastically repeated the lie and misled the House and misled the people of the country. I am sure since this was in the Lok Sabha, it shall be appropriately taken forward."
Sharma said "The French government had no objection in revealing the price of the Rafale aircraft. This was conveyed by the French president to Rahul Gandhi during a meeting in which I was present along with the former prime minister."