Rafale row: Govt compromised national interest, now deceiving people with lies, alleges Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress today launched a blistering attack on the government's over its continuing silence on the Rafale aircraft deal + , and accused PM Modi and his coterie of ministers of dishing out lies to deceive the people.

"Modi government is unforgivably guilty of compromising national interest and national security. Shoddy cover-up, self-defeating assertions and deliberate lies are being dished out to divert, dupe and deceive," said a party communique, giving it back to the ruling party, which has previously accused the Congress of undermining national security with its demands for disclosure of the Rafale deal.



The salvo against the NDA-led Centre came hours ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's arrival in India + on a four-day bilateral visit. Macron recently came on record to say that the negotiation for Rafale jets was a "win-win" for both the countries, but the fine print of the deal could not be revealed due to "commercial reasons."

Now, Congress has seized upon the annual report of Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale fighter jets, to claim that the deal inked by PM Modi caused a loss of Rs 12,632 crore to the national exchequer.

According to the report, Dassault sold 36 Rafale jets to India at £7.5 billion in 2016, while 48 jets were sold to Qatar and Egypt at £7.9 billion in 2015. This amounted to Rs 1,670.7 crore per aircraft for India and Rs 1,319.8 crore to Qatar and Egypt. Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Surjewala pointed out that each jet was sold to India at Rs 351 crore higher than those sold to Qatar and Egypt 11 months ago.


Congress highlighted the fact that the purchase price negotiated by the Modi dispensation was significantly higher than the Rs 526 crore bid by the erstwhile UPA regime.



Furthermore, the Inter-Governmental Agreement which ensured that India would get the lowest price of the Rafale aircraft in comparison to other buyers was mooted, since the annual report shows that Qatar and Egypt obtained the jets more cheaply.

"What is the purpose, object and sanctity of IGA with France, once the assurance of India getting the lowest price of Rafale aircraft in comparison to every other buyer is violated?" demanded Surjewala.

The Congress also charged the PM with non-transparency, violation of the provisions of the Defence Procurement Procedure, foregoing prior clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security and sacrificing national interest by failing to include Transfer of Technology in the Rafale deal.

Pressure has been mounting on the Modi government to make public the details of the Rafale deal, with opposition parties criticizing the Centre's refusal to disclose per aircraft price for the sake of "confidentiality", thereby "hiding" the information from "the country and the Parliament".