New Delhi, Union Minister and BJP leader Piyush Goyal on Friday said the government has received more clarification from the French manufacturer of Rafale and claimed the BJP-led government negotiated a far better Rafale aircraft deal than what was agreed upon by the United Progressive Alliance.
The minister’s comment came after Dassault clarified on Thursday that it had “freely chosen” Reliance as an offset partner for the Rafale deal and sold 36 fighters to India within the framework of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries in its statement, seen as a response to the report by French news website.
‘We got more clarity from the CEO of Dassault Aviation, who has categorically confirmed that since the implementation of offsets was an obligation, they themselves chose the partners to implement the offsets,’ Mr Goyal said while addressing a press conference here.
The DA CEO confirmed that they chose Reliance as offset partner on their own volition, he said.He said the Congress was repeating lie after lie. ‘Falsehood over falsehood is not going to help to change the reality,’ Mr Goyal said, adding that ‘Congress is an issue-less party and their leadership cannot understand the basic facts and was bereft of any truth; and possibly trying to hide their own wrongdoing.’
The Congress leadership cannot understand the basic figures or facts, he said.’One after another Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s lies have been exposed. There is never a replacement for the truth,’ he said.
Congress lied in Parliament too where Rahul Gandhi said he personally met French President and asked him about the secrecy of Rafale Deal, he said.
‘It only shows hollowness of knowledge that he does not know that secrecy pact was done in 2008 by then PM Manmohan Singh,’ he stated.
The Supreme court has categorically refused to discuss the price and technical details of Rafale which are sensitive for the security of country, the BJP leader said.
‘We have a crystal clear situation, where, for keeping national interests and security of the nation as paramount, the government decided to expedite the procurement of very crucial defence equipment,’ he said, adding that the government got faster delivery, better maintenance tenure and better spare parts deal in this purchase.
The Rafale deal during the UPA rule could not stand because an associate (Sanjay Bhandari – a close friend of Robert Vadra) of the first family of the Congress was not entertained, he said.
Another lie Mr Gandhi said was that Former French President called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘liar’, Mr Goyal said, adding that it was shameful that in their desperation the Congress party chose a friendly country and put falsehoods in a the mouth of their senior leader. And this was denied by the French government, he stressed.
Mr Goyal alleged that the Congress was twisting French media reports and Mr Gandhi was manufacturing false news.’Congress is trying to deflect their misdeeds,’ he said, adding ‘that their government has given prime importance to India’s security and all regulations were duly followed in the deal.’