Congress politicises India receiving first Rafale, calls it drama

The Congress has politicised India receiving its first Rafale aircraft, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh being berated by Sandeep Dikshit on the matter. Dikshit's primary grouse was with the Shastra Puja that Rajnath Singh had performed, and said that the whole religious context of Vijayadashmi and the Rafale aircraft doesn't match. "It is a festival that all of us celebrate. Why do we have to link it with the coming of an aircraft?", said Dikshit.

After officially receiving the first Rafale aircraft, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Tuesday undertook a 25-minute sortie from the Merignac airbase in France.

READ: Rajnath Singh performs the 'biggest' Shastra Puja as India gets Rafale

'This Government wants to dramatize everything'

Further assailing the government, Sandeep Dikshit, a known army baiter, said that the government wants to dramatize everything without any substantive work. He additionally praised former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh stating that the Rafale project was selected by him.

"What is this thing of the Defence Minister receiving the aircraft, the defence forces people should be receiving it? It is just another weapon that you are buying. The main problem with this Government is to dramatize and make a drama of everything without any substantive work. The govt that is scared to share the details of financial issue in Rafale and want to project Rafale as a great achievement - that is not right. It is the achievement of India's finances, Indian defense forces. Dr. Manmohan Singh Singh selected the Rafale project."

READ: Rajnath Singh meets French counterpart before Rafale induction

Rajnath Singh's visit to France

India had ordered 36 Rafale fighter jets from France in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore in September 2016. While the formal handover ceremony takes place this week, the first batch of four Rafale jets will fly to their home base in India by May 2020. All 36 jets are expected to arrive in India by September 2022, for which the IAF has been reportedly undertaking preparations, including readying the required infrastructure and training of pilots. The handover ceremony will be followed by the annual Indo-French Defence Dialogue between Singh and French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly back in Paris on Tuesday evening.

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