Published 09:46 IST, July 30th 2020
Arun Jaitley's children share his befitting response as Rahul resurrects 'Rafale scam'
As Rahul Gandhi raked up the controversy over Rafale fighter jet's acquisition yet again, late Arun Jaitley's son shared a video of his response in Lok Sabha
As India welcomed the first fleet of 5 Rafale jets, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi raked up the controversy over the fighter jet's acquisition yet again. His questions come despite Supreme Court's clean chit to the Modi government over the Rafale deal. Responding to the criticism by the Opposition, former Finance Minister late Arun Jaitley's son Rohan Jaitley shared a video of his father wherein the leader responded to the Congress on their allegations on Rafale deal. Rohan Jaitley said that his words are more relevant now than ever.
In the video, Jaitley issued a point-by-point counter to Rahul Gandhi's claims on pricing, accusing him of comparing unequals -- i.e. the UPA's price for non-weaponised Rafale fighters versus the NDA's price for weaponised jets -- and also put forth that the Congress president wasn't even listening to the responses. In the house, Jaitley had point-blank refused to entertain the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the deal.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
Arun Jaitley's daughter Sonali also remembered her father as the Rafale arrived.
Rahul Gandhi sarcastically congratulated the Indian Air Force on the new defence entrants; he asked Centre to answer questions about the aircraft's worth, the number of jets acquired and the Rs 30,000 crore contract awarded to Anil Ambani instead of HAL. Gandhi has repeatedly questioned the deal since the Modi government finalised the deal in 2017 - though his attempt clearly didn't cut the mustard with the Indian public who rejected him and his primary 'Rafale scam' poll plank in the 2019 elections.
Rafales land at Ambala airspace
In a mega boost to Indian Airforce's firepower, the five Rafale jets have landed at Indian Airforce's Ambala airbase on Wednesday. The jets took off from the Merignac airbase in French port city of Bordeaux on Monday and arrived here after covering a distance of 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates. The jets entered the Indian air space and were escorted by 2 SU30 MKIs to the airbase.
SC's Rafale Verdict
The Supreme Court had in 2019 dismissed the review petitions against its December 14, 2018 judgment upholding the 36 Rafale jets' deal, and giving a clean chit to the Modi government. The review petitions asked for a review in the jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation. The top court rejected the plea that there was a necessity for registration of an FIR in connection with the Rafale deal. The top court had said that it did not find any reason to embark on a 'roving and fishing inquiry.'
Moreover, SC, while dismissing the contempt proceeding against Rahul Gandhi which was filed by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, had issued the then Congress chief a stern warning. In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had attributed his ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Modi to the Apex Court. Following this, Lekhi filed a contempt plea. After the SC issued a contempt notice against Gandhi, the latter tendered an apology seeking closure of the proceedings. The top court accepted his apology and while pulling up the leader for making false attributions to the Court.
Updated 09:46 IST, July 30th 2020