Published 15:33 IST, January 6th 2019
Rahul Gandhi demands Nirmala Sitharaman's resignation over claims on Rafale; Defence minister hits back with facts
War of words between Congress and BJP continued on the Rafale, this time on Twitter, following a tweet by Rahul Gandhi demanding resignation of Nirmala Sitharaman
After their showdown over the Rafale in the Lok Sabha, war of words between Congress and BJP continued on the matter, this time on Twitter, following a tweet by Rahul Gandhi demanding resignation of Nirmala Sitharaman, which was immediately countered by the Defence Minister.
The Congress President, a couple of days after Raksha Mantri's sensational speech at the Lower House of the Parliament countering each and every claim and allegation by the Congress on Rafale, accused Nirmala Sitharaman of lying, and demanded her resignation should she not able to prove her facts.
"When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies, to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the PM's Rafale lie, the RM lied to Parliament. Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL. Or resign," his Twitter message read.
But his claims and allegations were once again put to rest by the Defence Minister, who immediately took to Twitter and backed her statements which she made in Lok Sabha on Friday.
"It's a shame that the president of @INCIndia is spreading lies nd misleading the country.HAL has signed contracts worth 26570.8Cr (Between 2014 & 2018) nd contracts worth 73000Cr are in the pipeline.Will @RahulGandhi apologise to the country from the floor of the house nd resign?" her response read.
On January 2, while speaking in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi continued his attack on the government over the Rafale, taking on PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister during his speech.
He was quickly rebutted by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, but the biggest, and by far the most scathing response came from Nirmala Sitharaman. At the floor of the house on January 4, two days after Rahul Gandhi's allegations, the Raksha Mantri put forward facts, one after the another, while defending her government on Rafale.
She also listed a number of things related to HAL, blunting the opposition's attack that the present NDA government had not done anything for the PSU.
"I will give you the list of things we have done. Presently, following procurement orders are in the pipeline of HAL:
- 83 LCA Tejas fighter worth Rs. 50,000 crore
- 15 combat helicopter order worth Rs. 3,000 crore
- 200 carmo helicopters order worth Rs. 20,000 crore
- 19 Dornier transport aircraft order worth Rs. 3,400 crore
- Other helicopters worth Rs. 15,000 crore
- Aero engines worth Rs. 8.400 crore
"All of them put together totals to Rs. 1 lakh crores which we have given for HAL. Who goes and sheds crocodile tears?"
Updated 16:41 IST, January 6th 2019