Taking a tough position on alleged Rafale deal scam, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said if his party comes to power in 2019, a criminal investigation will be launched into the Rafale deal and the accused will be punished.
Rahul was speaking to the media outside Parliament ahead of the government’s reply. He urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to answer the questions raised by the Congress on the multi-million dollar fighter jet deal.
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Gandhi told reporters “We and the entire opposition want that when defence minister speaks on the PM’s behalf, the questions raised by us should be answered.”
The Congress President also asked Sitharaman whether any objections were raised on the Rafale contract file by the negotiating team and the defence ministry.
Gandhi also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running away from the debate and said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should answer questions raised by the Congress instead of abusing him.
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The Rafale deal controversy had dominated the entire political landscape in 2018 and is expected to play an important role in the forthcoming parliamentary elections due in May this year. The controversy is related to the purchase of 36 multirole fighter aircraft for a price estimated to be worth Rs 58,000 crore by the Defence Ministry of India from France’s Dassault Aviation.
