Cong demands JPC or SC-monitored probe into Rafale deal

The Congress Thursday sought a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) or a Supreme

Court-monitored inquiry into the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal.

Staging a protest march here over the alleged Rafale scam, the party demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman submit their resignation to facilitate a free and fair probe into the matter.

The party's leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of concealing information regarding the price of the fighter planes.

Addressing Congress workers at August Kranti Maidan, Kharge said, "The government should explain the inflated cost and who is going to benefit by it".

 

"The offset contract which is part of the Rafale purchase deal was taken away from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under pressure," he alleged.

Kharge, also the Congress general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, claimed former France president Francois Hollande's comments bolstered the party's allegations about the Rafale deal.

"Hollande has said that the Indian government suggested the name (of Reliance Defence) to partner Dassault to manufacture Rafale planes," he said.

Apart from Kharge, state Congress chief Ashok Chavan, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, former Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam took part in the protest march.

Later, Chavan and Nirupam led a delegation to Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to Governor

C Vidyasagar Rao.

The Congress alleged that there was no transparency in the Rafale deal and crucial information was being suppressed.

The defence minister initially agreed to divulge details about pricing of the planes, but later refused on flimsy grounds, the memorandum alleged.

"The UPA government had finalised the deal for the purchase of each aircraft for Rs 526 crore, while in 2016 the deal was renegotiated and the price was Rs 1,670 crore. HAL, which has decades of experience of manufacturing was replaced as offset partner of Dassault Aviation for local production of Rafale components by Reliance Defence which had no experience," it said.

"There is sufficient ground for PM Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to resign and facilitate a JPC probe or a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry," it said.

The memorandum also claimed that two days before the Rafale deal was signed, Reliance Entertainment (a division of of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) financed a film co-produced by Hollande's partner, Julie Gayet.

Reliance Entertainment has refuted the allegations.

The Indian government has also denied that it had any role in Dassault Aviation's decision to choose Reliance Defence, a part of the Anil Ambani-led conglomerate, as the offset partner.