New Delhi: Going back to claim that PM Modi, Arun Jaitley and Nirmala Sitharaman are “lying” about the controversial Rafale deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday again called for a probe into the deal.
This comes after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley alleged that whole controversy surrounding the Rafale deal that further deepened after former French President Francois Hollande's remarks, was orchestrated by the opposition parties in the two countries.
Gandhi on Sunday hit back at Jaitley, saying it is time the finance minister and the prime minister "stop lying" and call for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe for an "uncorrupted truth" to come out.
He accused Jaitley of having the ability to spin "2 truths or lies" with "fake self-righteousness" and "indignation to defend the indefensible".
"Mr Jetlie's speciality is his ability to spin '2 truths', or lies, with fake self righteousness and indignation to defend the indefensible. It's high time he, the RM and our PM stop lying and call a JPC to establish the full, uncorrupted truth about the Rafale Scam (sic)," Gandhi tweeted.
He also tagged a media report highlighting how former Hollande's charges have brought significant damage to the Modi government.
The Rafale controversy took a turn last week after Hollande claimed that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence's name as the offset partner for Dassault Aviation. This comes in direct contrast to what the Modi government has maintained about the deal that it had no role to play in the selection of the companies that would work with Dassault in India.
In response, the French government said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners for the Rafale deal, asserting that French firms have the full freedom to select Indian companies for the contract.
Jaitley earlier defended the Prime Minister on the Rafale issue, saying the French government and Dassault Aviation have categorically denied the correctness of the former president's first statement.
He said the French government has stated that the decision with regard to the offset contracts of Dassault Aviation are taken by the company and not the government.
"This puts to rest the controversy which is sought to be created on the basis of a statement made by the former French president Hollande," he said.
The Reliance group has rejected charges against it made by the Congress and said the government was in no way involved in securing its offset contract with Dassault Aviation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighters after holding talks with then French president Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris.
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