Published 20:38 IST, January 7th 2019
'Defence Minister lied in the parliament', alleges Rahul Gandhi after Nirmala Sitharaman corners him with facts
Two days after Rahul Gandhi crossed swords with Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament, Congress chief has again taken a swipe at the Defence Minister despite her giving out facts and figures relating to Rafale deal.Â
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Two days after Rahul Gandhi crossed swords with Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament, Congress chief has again taken a swipe at the Defence Minister despite her giving out facts and figures relating to Rafale deal. Speaking to reporters at Parliament after the Sitharaman's response, the Congress president said that the Defence Minister 'has lied about 2-3 things' in her ' 2.5-hour speech'.
"Nirmala Sitharaman gave a 2.5-hour speech in Parliament. She said in parliament that 1 lakh crore rupees have been given to HAL by this government. We challenged this statement. And today, in her statement she said, 26,570 crores have been given to HAL, meaning Nirmala Sitharaman Ji has lied directly in the parliament. Here, in her statement it is written request for proposals and case of the technical evaluation committee, the technical evaluation does not mean giving money. So this Rs, 73,000 crore she mentioned is absolute lies and the actual money been given is 26,570 crore rupees. So the Defence Minister has clearly lied."
Continuing his jibe at the Raksha Mantri, he further directed a question towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi:
"She has lied on 2-3 other things as well. And, when I asked her one question, a simple question and I ask it again, I ask Narendra Modi Ji, and I ask Nirmala Sitharaman, when Narendra Modiji abolished the Rafale contract and conducted a bypass surgery and created a new contract of 36 aircrafts, did the senior officials in the Defence Ministry, Air Force senior officials objected to Narendra Modi’s interference, yes or no?
Touching a new low, the Congress president then said that the Defence Minister lied about her middle-class background as well.
"When I asked Nirmala Sitharaman this question in parliament, he spoke at length about her middle-class background, which is also a lie.Nirmala Sitharaman, did not answer this question. Nirmala Sitharaman says she is helping HAL, I have a small question. Dassault company has not delivered a single aircraft. Till date, one plane hasn’t come. Dassault has been paid 20,000 crore rupees as payment by the Indian government. HAL company has delivered the aircraft, it has delivered the helicopters, and 15,700 crore rupees of theirs, you are not giving them. It is their due".
"To a Foreign company, Anil Ambani’s friend, you give 20,000 crore rupees without the making of a single aircraft. And the public sector company makes the plane and gives you, it makes the helicopter and gives you, you don't give them their money? Why, what is the reason for this? Answer this also. The main issue here is, the main issue I want to tell the youngsters that this is your money, this is not Anil Ambani’s money. You shouldn't call her the Defence minister instead you should call her the Defence ministry’s spokesman, Narendra Modi ji’s spokesman".
He then sought out the answer to three questions which according to Mr. Gandhi remained unanswered by the Raksha Mantri:
"In her 2.5 speech, she did not not say 2-3 things. Firstly, she did not answer my yes or no. Number 2, she did not say on what basis were 30,000 crore rupees given to Anil Ambani. and the answers to these questions haven’t been given as yet", he concluded.
20:38 IST, January 7th 2019