Stepping up his attack on the Modi government over the Rafale deal, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused it of weakening state-run aerospace major HAL and destroying India’s strategic capability to benefit businessman Anil Ambani.
The Congress President also slammed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for “lying in Parliament” and evading his questions on Rafale in her reply to the debate on the issue.
“I ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nirmala Sitharaman – when Modi-ji did bypass surgery (on the deal for 126 jets negotiated by the previous Congress government) and prepared a new contract for 36 fighters, did any senior defence ministry, air force officials object to PM Modi’s interference? Yes or no?,” he said.
In a statement issued to the press, Gandhi quoted Sitharaman’s reply in the Lok Sabha. “…All of them put together, the total comes to Rs 1 Lakh Crore, which we have given for the HAL.” Commenting on Sitharaman’s reply in the parliament on Monday, he said “Scared by the Brecah of Privilege in Parliament, Defence Minister, today (7th Jan) said that between 2015 to 2018, only orders worth Rs 26750 Crore have been given to HAL. Orders worth Rs 73,000 Cr are merely at ‘Request for proposal (RFP) stage, ” adding that this exposed the minister’s lies.
He alleged that while the government gave Rs 20,000 crore to Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale jets, even though it has not supplied a single aircraft.
“But, why HAL’s dues of Rs 15,700 crore have not been cleared,” Rahul asked.
He was speaking to reporters outside Parliament.
The press statement further added, “against Annual Budget Requirement of HAL of Rs 19,344 Cr during 2018-2019, only Rs 6,415 Cr has been allocate i.e. 33%.”
As a result of which, HAL was forced to take a Bank Loan of Rs 781 Cr to pay salaries, the statement read, adding that the Modi government had even withdrawn Rs 11,024 Cr from HAL.
He also said the government’s actions caused the share price of HAL to plummet from a high of Rs 1,184 to Rs 814.
“The strategy of the government is — weaken HAL, do not give it money, destroy India’s strategic capability and give ‘gift’ to Anil Ambani,” Gandhi alleged.
The government as well as Ambani have rejected all such allegations.
Asserting that the Congress will protect the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), he alleged, “we are not going to allow Rs 30,000 crores of people’s money to be taken by Anil Ambani because he is Narendra Modi’s friend.”
Gandhi further said, “Give me 15 minutes with PM Modi for a debate on Rafale, the country will know the truth.”
(With PTI inputs)