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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday criticised Congress President Rahul Gandhi for levelling allegations of irregularities in the Rafale jet deal with France and dismissed the Opposition party’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry into the agreement.
The minister said there was no need for an inquiry into the matter as the Supreme Court has examined all aspects of the deal to satisfy its conscience. However, the Congress’ electoral needs have not been met, Jaitley quipped.
The House was adjourned a couple of times during the post-lunch session after the Congress president opened the debate. “There are a number of holes in the Rafale story,” Gandhi claimed in his opening statement.
Members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance protested after the Congress president sought to play an audio clip in which someone they claim is Goa Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane says that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is aware of all the details of the India-France Rafale jet deal. In the clip, the person believed to be Rane claims Parrikar, who was the defence minister when the deal was signed in 2016, said he had “all the files related to the Rafale deal in his bedroom”. Parrikar and Rane have dismissed the audio clip as doctored.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan did not allow Gandhi to play the tape, asking if the Congress had verified its authenticity. She also turned down the Congress president’s request to read out the transcript of the tape.
Gandhi reiterated the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry into the deal and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why even a single Rafale aircraft had not been delivered to India till date if the Air Force needed the jets urgently. “The Supreme Court verdict stated that probing Rafale scam does not come under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, but they never said that JPC shouldn’t be formed,” he said.
