New Delhi: For the first time since the Congress led the charge against the government on Rafale deal, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) broke its silence on the issue and joined the Congress in raising doubts about the deal.
BJD MP Kailash Narayan Singh Deo speaking on the issue of Rafale in the Lok Sabha said, “Questions of probity and questions of procedure do exist. Questions arise on pricing. It is well known that Qatar has bought the same planes at much cheaper price.”
He added that with these doubts lingering about the deal, the Parliamentarians could not be expected to be “mute spectators”.
The biggest loss to the nation, Deo said, was the leaving out by the NDA of the transfer of technology clause that was put in the earlier deal that was finalised by the UPA. He demanded a white paper on why the deal that was announced by Prime Minister Modi during his visit to France in 2015 did not include a transfer of technology to India.
“Under the UPA, technology was to be transferred. The government should come with a white paper on why technology transfer was not done.”
He added that if “murky defence deals” inked by the Congress scarred it, such deals were bound to scar the NDA in future.
Without explicitly calling for a JPC inquiry, Deo hinted at it when he said, “There needs to be a closer look at the deal. People of India should know what went behind [the decision].”
While the BJD had maintained distance from the issue that Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been raising for last several months, its senior leader and MP, Bhartruhari Mahtab had expressed some reservation on the issue.
Mahtab, speaking to a media outlet last month, said that there was no information on the deal and that the government should be ready for a detailed debate on the issue. “Tell me what is the information we have on Rafale deal…What information do we really have except allegations, denial and at times counter allegations.”
After Deo, Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena, whose leader Uddhav Thackeray had recently echoed Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chowkidaar chor hai’ slogan embarrassing their ally, also demanded a probe in the deal.
“We are an honest government, then why are we running away from a JPC probe? Why not have the JPC probe the deal.
“Why was the HAL deprived of the opportunity of building Rafale? Its former MD is on record to have said that the HAL has the know how to build these planes,” Sawant said.
TMC’s Sougata Roy also demanded the JPC in the matter and attacked the BJP saying, "Jaitley has lost his touch. We are not bothered about today. We don't want to hear what happened in the past [in context of Jaitley mentioning Mr Q and Bofors deal].”
He said that “Modi was hiding behind Arun Jaitley” and was behaving like “Meghnad who used to fight from behind the clouds.” He also alluded to the Parrikar-Rafale tape.
Earlier today, the Congress released an audio tape of Goa’s health minister Vishwajit Pratapsingh Rane, in which he purportedly made the sensational claim about Parrikar holding on to the files.
Dhananjay Mahadik also demanded a probe on the issue saying that when the BJP’s own ally [Shiv Sena] “raised doubts about the deal then doubts were bound to be raised in the minds of the people of the country.”
Mohammad Salim of the CPI(M) said that while others were interested in self-reliance in defence of the country, the government was interested in “self and reliance”. He described the deal, “operation cover-up.”
Jayadev Galla from the TDP, also member of standing committee on defence, criticised the perceived opacity maintained by the government on the deal and demanded a JPC on the Rafale deal.
For the first time since the debate on the alleged corruption in Rafale deal started, seven parties which together represent over 28% of the Lok Sabha's strength demanded a probe in the multi billion dollar defence deal on Wednesday.
Together the parties whose members demanded a probe in the deal in the lower house on Wednesday have 147 MPs in a 545-member Lok Sabha. These parties are - Congress (45 MPs), Trinamool Congress (34), Biju Janata Dal (19), BJP ally Shiv Sena (18), Telegu Desam Party (15), CPI(M) (9), and NCP (7).
The Supreme Court had recently cleared the government of allegations linked to the Rafale deal. There is no reason to doubt the decision-making process behind the Rafale jet deal, the court had said in a huge reprieve to the government. But this has not stopped the Congress from alleging wrongdoing in the deal.
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