Will Investigate Rafale Deal if Congress Comes to Power: Rahul

Indian incumbent government is facing some serious troubles as leading party in opposition has raised question about much controversial Rafale deal. The Rafale Deal Controversy is a political controversy in India related to the purchase of 36 multirole fighter aircraft for a price estimated to be worth Rs 58,000 crore (7.8 billion euros) by the Defence Ministry of India from France’s Dassault Aviation.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday (Jan 4) has warned the allegedly involved individuals that, if his part came into power , a criminal investigation would be launched into the Rafale deal and those found guilty would be punished. Speaking to the media outside Parliament ahead of the government’s reply in the Lok Sabha over the issue, he said “Let me tell you that if we come to power in 2019 then there will be (an) investigation (into the Rafale deal). There will be a criminal investigation and the people responsible will be punished”. “We and the entire opposition want that when the defence minister speaks on the Prime Minister’s behalf, the questions raised by us should be answered,” the Congress chief said.

“Who decided to raise the price of the aircraft from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,600 crore? Whose decision was this? Was this an air force decision, was it the defence ministry’s decision or was it the Prime Minister’s decision? There has to be a clear-cut answer, no confusion….,” he said.

Gandhi also questioned the decision to reduce the number of aircraft to be bought from 126 to 36. “Who took this decision and were national security concerns considered when this decision was taken?” he asked. “Did they question this deal? Are there documents with the defence ministry that show that they opposed this deal? She (Nirmala Sitharaman) should clearly state (that) no, there are no documents in the defence ministry that clearly state that the defence ministry was against the deal. That is the statement that what we want to hear from her,” he said.

On 31 January 2012, Indian Ministry of Defence announced that Dassault Rafale had won the MMRCA competition to supply Indian Air Force with 126 aircraft along with an option for 63 additional aircraft. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman denied the allegations of procedural wrongdoing and said that approval from Cabinet Committee on Security had been obtained before signing of IGA.