Rafale: NDA worked a better deal than UPA, says Rajnath Singh

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Saturday said that the BJP-led NDA government worked a better deal to buy Rafale fighter jets from France than the previous UPA dispensation.

Opposition parties are reiterating their allegations against the deal with the hope that if they tell a lie a hundred times, people will eventually come to accept it to some extent, he said after inaugurating the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's national convention here.

"I would like to tell the people of India that this deal was negotiated during the UPA rule too. The deal we have worked is a better deal. We signed it keeping national interest in view," he said.

The planes that the NDA government has decided to buy are "battle-ready", he said.

The opposition is asking us the price of nut and bolt of Rafale and risking national security "knowingly or unknowingly. What drama is it?" he said.

The BJYM's convention, which concludes Sunday, is being attended by several national leaders, including Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states.

The Rs 58,000-crore Rafale fighter jet deal has been at the centre of a raging political row with the Congress accusing the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of wrongdoing. The government has rejected all allegations.

In September 2016, India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to buy the jets, the delivery of which is slated to begin from September 2019.