Rahul Gandhi's statement on Rafale pricing in LS childish: UP minister

Uttar Pradesh minister Srikant Sharma today termed Congress President Rahul Gandhi's statement on the pricing of fighter jet Rafale in the Lok Sabha during the no-trust motion against the NDA government "childish".

"There is no truth in the allegation as the clarification has come from the French government itself," the state power minister said.

Addressing the Lok Sabha during a the debate on the no-confidence motion on Friday, Gandhi said the French president had clearly conveyed to him during a meeting that there was no problem in sharing details relating to the Rafale deal worth Rs 58,000 crore.

Hours after Gandhi's comments, a Spokesperson in the French Foreign Ministry said France had signed a security pact with India in 2008 which legally binds the two countries to protect the classified information which could impact security and operational capabilities of the defence equipment.

However, the official did not clarify whether the provisions of the pact restrict the Indian government to disclose price details of the Rafale deal.

Today, Sharma said the statement of the Congress president is "childish" and not befitting to the stature of a national party that was earlier in power.

"The opposition parties' bundle of lies have been thoroughly exposed during the no-confidence motion against the Modi government and there is no doubt that the BJP would win more seats in the general elections next year than what it had got in the last Lok Sabha polls," he claimed.

On Gandhi's hug to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the wink in Parliament, Sharma said, "It reflects the immaturity of the Congress president and reveals that he still has to learn a lot."
Asserting that the NDA government at the Centre was striving to safeguard the interest of the farmers of the country, the Uttar Pradesh minister said, "The BJP government is committed to ensuring the progress of the country and project its best image all over the world."