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Rafale will bring Modi back to power: Nirmala
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SME Times News Bureau | 05 Jan, 2019
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday dismissed all allegations
of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal and said it was "far better
on every count" on pricing, processes and other factors and hit back at
the Congress saying while the Bofors deal was a scam, the Rafale deal
would bring Narendra Modi back to power in the coming elections.
In
a spirited two-and-half hour reply in the Lok Saba to a debate on the
deal in which she gave as much as she received from the opposition, she
said Congress dilly-dallied on the deal and did not conclude it for over
10 years, putting national security to jeopardy while the BJP
government finalised the deal in 14 months.
The reply came on a
day when Congress claimed "fresh revelations" that Modi increased the
benchmark price from euro 5.2 billion to euro 8.2 billion, which
Sitharaman rejected it as false.
Getting emotional over Congress
President Rahul Gandhi's attack on her and the Prime Minister, she said
he had called them liars.
"I come from a middle-class family
and have my honour intact and the Prime Minister comes from a poor
background and has come up the hard way. Being 'naamdar' does not give
the right to make baseless allegations. Family name does not give right
to call anyone a 'chor' (thief).
"It is not a prerogative of
'khaandan' (family) to protect themselves," she asked, referring to
Gandhi's demand that he needed a chance to protec himself. My honour,
PM's honour have been insulted. Have you apologised. Nobody has the
right to call this. Who gives him the right to call us like that," she
said.
"Bofors was a scam but Rafale is a decision taken in
national interest. Congress lost its government due to Bofors. The
Rafale deal will bring back Modi to have a new India, transforming India
and to remove corruption" the minister said in a reply to a debate on
the deal that was acrimonious and marked often by interruptions from the
Opposition benches.
After the Defence Minister's reply, Gandhi
said he did not accuse her of being involved in the deal. "I had only
accused the Prime Minister of direct involvement in the Rafale deal." He
also wanted to know a "'yes or no' to his question whether defence
ministry had said that the PM should not be bypassing the defence
establishment".
Attacking the Congress for its failure to clinch
the deal, she said there was a difference between defence dealings and
dealing in defence, in veiled jibe at the Opposition party suggesting it
was looking for kickbacks.
"There was a reason that the
previous UPA government did not do anything required for the deal
between 2006 and 2014. They (UPA) were dealing for 18 flyaway aircrafts.
Why there was no agreement? You did not even buy a single aircraft.
They did not intend buying. There is a difference between defence
dealings and dealing in defence. We deal in defence as national security
with priority," she said.
Targeting UPA's Defence Minister A.K.
Antony, Sitharaman said he had stated in Februray, 2014 that there was
"no money" to go ahead with deal for buying Medium Multi Role Combat
Aircraft (MMRCA) under which 18 were to be procured in a flyaway
condition from Dassault Aviation and the rest 108 to be manufactured by
public sector undertaking HAL under transfer of technology. She
said the commercial bid of MMRCA "non-deal" was opened in 2011 and
Dassault Aviation, which manufactures Rafale, became L1 but Antony
directed independent monitoring to examine how the lowest bidder
emerged.
She said the independent monitor cleared the process
but they did not buy aircraft even after that and an order was passed to
reexamine the approach and methodology of the contract negotiating
committee.
"This is the kind of 'khilwad' (tampering). This was
interference because somebody did not receive something from somewhere.
The deal did not suit you. It did not give money. Their 'treasury
security' was important not the national security," she said.
Sitharaman
said the first Rafale fighter jet will be delivered in September this
year and the last aircraft will be delivered by 2022.
"We did not run for 10 years like you and we did it in 14 months," she said.
Sitharaman
also accused the Congress of shedding crocodile tears for HAL and
accused the UPA for not doing anything to empower the public sector
undertaking.
"Congress government gave 53 waivers to HAL while we
have given contracts worth Rs 1 lakh crore," she said referring to
parliamentary standing committee reports on HAL which had criticised the
company for non-performence.
Responding to the opposition
questions on why only 36 aircrafts was finalised and not 126 as was
proposed by the UPA govenment, the Minister said that the government
followed the traditions of buying two squadrons aS it was urgently
required given the fragile security environment.
"In emergency
purchases, the IAF normally advises for two squadrons," she said adding
that in 1982, 1985 and 1987 when defence deals were done with France and
Russia, two squadrons each were purchased.
She said that the
entire campaign on Rafale by the Congress has been based on falsehood
and the grand old party was repeatedly lying and misleading the people.
"Even
unparliamentary words were used against the Prime Minister. Lies were
spoken about foreign heads of governments," she said apparently
referring to the jibe at the Prime Minister by Congress President Rahul
Gandhi that "Chowkidar chor hai".
She said India wants peace but
that cannot be at the cost of operational preparedness of the armed
forces. She said India's western and northern borders were highly
sensitive and it was important to purchase the ammunition and platforms
required.
She said between 2004 and 2015, China added 400
aircraft, including fourth generation J-10, J-11, J-16, SU-27 and even
stealth fifth generation fighters. Pakistan, she said, had doubled the
number of its main fighter aircraft.
The minister said that
between 2002 and 2015, India's squadron strength had gone down from 42
to 33, while that of the neighbour increased during most of the UPA
government's period and India kept moving at a snail's pace.
She
said that even in 2014, a "deadlock situation was created" over the
MMRCA deal. "You leave the government without anything bought. There was
no sense of urgency." Repeatedly terming the deal negotiated
by the UPA government as a "non-deal", she said it was not concluded.
"I want to ask you why there was no deal. Today you are asking what was
sense of urgency?"
"I allege, challenge they did not intend
buying. National security was a wish list, it did not matter. For every
AA, there is RV, there is Q also. Abbreviations may be easy, it is a
double-edged sword. RV is not damad of PM, he is damad of the country, Q
is somebody in whose lap none of us grew, somebody else grew."
She
accused Rahul Gandhi of shedding crocodile tears for Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited, asking if he had visited HAL facility in his
Amethi constituency.
She said the contract to procure 126
aircraft could not be concluded as Dassault was not giving guarantee for
the aircraft to be made by HAL and it required more time to produce
them.
She said there was no confirmation about Rs 526 crore,
often cited by Rahul Gandhi, in official documents and asked "where they
are getting it from". She said it existed as a quote in a 2007
document.
The minister said Rs 670 crore was the basic price
and even taking Rs 526 crore as base price, the deal done by NDA was 9
per cent cheaper than that by UPA government as the price under
unfulfilled MMRCA deal would come to Rs 737 crore taking into account
inflation and currency exchange fluctuation.
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