Nirmala Sitharaman attacked the Opposition over the Rafale Deal in Lok Sabha on Friday. (LSTV screen grab)
Taking up the Congress challenge over Rafale, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday resorted to a point-by-point analysis of the deal in Lok Sabha, rejecting a number of accusations by the Congress government. She said that timely purchase of equipment should be the priority while negotiating defence deals. She also clarified there was no agreement between HAL and Dassault Aviation, and that the Congress was shedding crocodile tears for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Taking a swipe at the Congress party over its allegation that the government did favour to Anil Ambani by making his company the offset partner of the Rafale deal, the defence minister reminded it of Bofors scam and said, “For every ‘AA (Anil Ambani)’ there is a ‘Q (Quattrocchi)’ and ‘RV (Robert Vadra)’,” she said.
Congress chief also asked the defence minister to tell the House who decided on giving the offset contract to Anil Ambani firm. “Price is not part of the secrecy pact. My question is Anil Ambani was brought in for the contract. Who was the one to decide on Anil Ambani?” said Gandhi.
The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 11 am on Monday, January 7
"Friday evening 5pm. Lok Sabha takes up Aadhaar Amendment Bill for discussion and passing. Convention says House never takes up Bills on Friday afternoon as it is Private Members Bill Day. LS almost empty. This Govt making a mockery of all institutions including Parliament," the O'Brien tweeted.
The Aadhaar Amendment Bill has been passed in the house.
The Aadhar and other laws (Amendment Bill, 2018) is currently in consideration in the Lok Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 11 am on Monday, January 7
"Defence Minister has completely demolished Congress party's lies and misinformation campaign on Rafale with her excellent speech loaded with facts. I congratulate her for bringing the truth to the nation," BJP president Amit Shah tweeted.
Government is working with the Reserve Bank (RBI) to look into cases of financial frauds involving amounts which are below Rs 1 lakh, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
A Financial Data Protection bill has been drafted that aims to address issues related to data theft, including from social networking websites, the minister added.
"You (Def Min) accepted in your speech that you started a new contract of buying 36 aircraft, so I asked them if the people involved in the negotiations objected to this bypass surgery, yes or no? Instead of answering this, she ran away," Gandhi said.
Earlier today, the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament said, "As per offset guidelines,defence acquisition council may prescribe varying offset obligations.Accordingly, offset obligation of 50% was prescribed for #Rafale.If you buy for Rs.100,you have to invest or procure Rs.50 from India."
Speaking outside the Parliament, the Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, "Defence minister gave a speech for over two hours and still didn't answer my questions."
Well done! Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman ji, for an outstanding performance. You demolished the fake campaign. We are all proud of your performance, the Finance minister tweeted.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha: Have you (Rahul Gandhi) apologised after having winked an eye at PM, after hugging the PM? This is not the way a House should run.
"I don't have a 'khandan' to boast on. PM also comes from a poor background. He has come here from hard work. I have my honour intact. PM has his honour intact. We have all come from normal backgrounds," Sitharaman said.
Rahul Gandhi in Parliament: Price is not part of the secrecy pact. My question is Anil Ambani was brought in for the contract. Who was the one to decide on Anil Ambani?
CAG's complete draft audit report has been recieved, response under preparation: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
"Def ministry has run without Dalal's under PM Modi leadership. Boforce was a scam, Rafale is a decision taken in national interest," Sitharaman said.
Bofors brought Congress down, Rafale will bring Modi back to build new India and remove corruption stinking around Congress, Sitharaman added.
Citing the SC's Rafale judgment, the Def minister said, "We did not mislead the Supreme Court."
A Congress spokesperson had said that Congress will not discuss India's defence deals with a foreign head of state, this discussion the Govt has to do with France and not us, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. But Rahul Gandhi on 20 July in Parliament said that he asked the French Pres about this secrecy pact but he denied its existence. He also told me that he has no issues in making the cost public," she added. Who is truthful? One of them is misleading the country. I want proof of this, Sitharaman added.
Congress party has built entire campaign on Rafale on falsehood and is misleading country both in and outside the House.