Defence Minister doing flip-flop on secrecy clause; surely a scam in Rafale deal: Rahul Gandhi
The Congress chief also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue, alleging he "squirms" when asked about the prices of the fighter aircraft.
Published: 22nd July 2018 06:51 PM | Last Updated: 23rd July 2018 12:18 AM | A+A A-
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi speaks as party president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh look on at the Extended Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Sunday July 22 2018. | PTI
NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged there was a “scam” in the Rafale deal with France, saying that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was doing a “flip-flop” on the secrecy clause.
Our Defence Minister said she would, but now she won’t.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 22, 2018
She flip flops between “it’s-not-a-secret” & “it’s-a-BIG-secret”.
The PM squirms when asked about the price of RAFALE and refuses to look me in the eye.
Sure smells like a scam. #RAFALEscam
“Our Defence Minister said she would, but now she won’t. She flip-flops between ‘it’s-not-a-secret’ & ‘it’s-a-BIG-secret’. The PM squirms when asked about the price of RAFALE and refuses to look me in the eye. Sure smells like a scam. #RAFALEscam (sic),” Gandhi tweeted.
Gandhi had told Parliament during the debate on the no-confidence motion that the French president had conveyed to him that there was no problem in sharing details relating to Rafale, contrary to what the government is saying. “The Defence Minister has clearly spoken an untruth,” he had said.
“I personally met the French president and asked him if there is such a pact between the French and Indian governments. The French president told me that there is no such pact between the French and Indian governments,” Gandhi had said.
“This is the truth, and he told me that I have no objection to it (details of Rafale deal) being made public, you can tell it to entire India.”
After Gandhi’s claims, the French government had issued a statement, saying a security agreement with India in 2008 legally binds the two countries to protect classified information.
