BJP and Congress continue to trade allegations over Rafale deal

NEW DELHI: The war of words between the BJP and the Congress continued on Monday over the Rafale deal following Rahul Gandhi’s allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha last week.


While the government accused Rahul Gandhi of behaving "irresponsibly", the Congress, on the other hand, blamed the government for misleading Parliament and the nation over the fighter aircraft deal signed with the French government.

"Dragging the French President into internal politics is unfortunate. His (Rahul) understanding of national security issues is poor and his party's stand is not in national interest," Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The BJP leader claimed that Congress leaders like former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Antony may understand the sensitivity involved with the deal but were "forced" to demand that the NDA government share details of the fighter aircraft, to defend Gandhi.

"Dynastic parties are always a crowd around a family. That is true of the Congress. Since a member of the family has resorted to falsehood, the crowd around the family has no option but to collectively sing the tune of falsehood. This is what has happened today," he said.

The Congress dismissed the government's defence, saying there is no clause in the 2008 pact between India and France that prevents the government from divulging price details of the aircraft.

Today, the Congress fielded its senior leaders -- former defence minister A K Antony, Anand Sharma and Randeep Surjewala, who issued a joint statement claiming the Prime Minister and the defence minister had sought to "lie" on the floor of Parliament.

Former defence minister Antony 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".

They have to reveal price details of each aircraft, said Antony, adding that the more they are trying to hide, the more suspicion there is about the deal.

Earlier today, four BJP MPs submitted a privilege notice against Congress President Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "misleading" Parliament by making "false" allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Congress party, too, is expected to give a notice of privilege motion against the PM and the defence minister in the Lok Sabha.

BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Anurag Thakur Dushyant Singh and Prahalad Joshi have given the notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

As soon as the Question Hour got over, Dubey said a privilege motion has been moved by his party. "Whenever Rahul Gandhi speaks, it only helps in increasing the votes of BJP," he said.

According to the rules of the House, Gandhi should have given prior notice before making any allegations against any member. He should have given substantiating material to the Speaker, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar had said, adding notice for privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi will be given for "falsehood and misleading" Parliament.

Shortly after the submission of notice against the Congress chief, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, amid protest by Congress MPs, said, "I will look into it and then let you know".

Later in the day, the Congress accused the Prime Minister and defence minister of misleading Parliament and the country on the Rafale pricing issue, saying there is no clause in the 2008 pact between India and France that prevents the government from divulging price details of the aircraft.

Surjewala further added that the Prime Minister and the defence minister misled Parliament on the issue and it is clearly a matter of breach of privilege.

Asked if the Congress would give a notice of privilege motion against the Prime Minister and defence minister, he said, "The issue pertains to the Lok Sabha and the leader of the Congress parliamentary party will take a decision on the issue soon."

The allegations against Rahul Gandhi relate to his speech during the debate on the no-confidence motion on Friday last week in which he had raised the issue of a secrecy clause in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France. The Congress chief had also accused the Prime Minister of benefiting "one industrialist" in the deal.

The BJP has also objected to Gandhi's comments regarding "betrayal" the Indian Army in Doklam, and dubbed them as "unsubstantiated charges".