NEW DELHI: As the 24-hour deadline given by
Rahul Gandhi demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Rafale defence deal came to an end on Thursday evening, the Congress president revisited his yesterday's tweet and slammed the government for failing to heed to his request.
On Wednesday, Rahul had called for constituting a JPC to probe the Rafale defence deal, which he also referred to as the “Great Rafale Robbery”. He had also given a 24-hour deadline to finance minister Arun Jaitley to respond to his demand.
On Thursday, as the deadline expired, the Congress chief said that it appears that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to grant permission for the JPC.
The deadline was part of an ongoing tussle between the two national parties over the issue of purchase of fighter jets from the French government. While the Congress party has been firm in its assertion that the deal signed with the French government is nothing but a scam, the ruling party has sidelined these allegations as "lies".
The latest round in the ongoing tussle started when the finance minister on Wednesday listed a set of 15 questions and said the deal NDA government had entered into with France on April 10, 2015, for purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets was on "better" terms than the one agreed to by the UPA government in 2007.
It was Jaitley's blog which prompted the Congress chief to call for a JPC to probe the deal. In a tweet, addressed to finance minister Jaitley, Rahul also gave a deadline of 24 hours to revert on his call for constituting the committee. "Do check and revert in 24 hrs. We’re waiting!" he wrote.
Earlier today, with six hours left for the deadline to expire, Rahul addressed another tweet to Jaitley: "Young India is waiting. I hope you're busy convincing Modi Ji and Anil Ambani Ji about why they should listen to you & approve this!"
The Rafale defence deal was also one of the main agenda of the Congress president's press conference in the evening, where he posed a set of three questions in front of the finance minister.
"I am ready to answer all your question but you should answer my questions as well,” he said. "Anil Ambani never made an aircraft. He is under a debt of Rs 45,000 crore and had opened a company just a few days before Rafale deal. HAL (Hindustan Aeronautical Limited) has been making aircraft for past 70 years," he said.
The Congress leader further claimed that the negotiated price of the Rafale fighter jet was way higher than the one negotiated earlier. “Why was an aircraft that was for Rs 520 crore was bought for Rs 1,600 crore," he asked.
