NEW DELHI: Emboldened by its win in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Congress pressed its demand for a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into the Rafale jet deal. Congress members in the Lok Sabha reached Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s chair and raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded a probe into the purchase of 36 aircraft from Dassualt of France.
The Congress has alleged that the fighter jets have been purchased at three times the price the previous UPA had negotiated.The party has charged the PM with indulging in crony capitalism by helping businessman Anil Ambani get offset benefits in the jet deal at the cost of the public sector company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
As party lawmakers disrupted house proceedings along with members of the Shiv Sena, the Telugu Desam Party and the AIADMK, who raised various issues, the chair adjourned the House till Thursday.
The Congress members had given a notice to adjourn the question hour and discuss the Rafale deal but the plea was rejected by the chair.
The Congress also started an online campaign to press the Centre for a JPC probe into the Rafale deal in the hope of mobilizing public support for the party during the ongoing winter session.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had on Tuesday indicated that the Rafale deal was a big issue and that his party would work with other opposition parties to expose the government.