KOCHI: Congress Working Committee member and former Defence Minister A K Antony has urged the Centre to reveal the purchase price as well as the terms and conditions of the Rafale fighter deal with France to clear doubts among the public about the controversial defence contract.
“In the interests of everyone, the Centre has to reveal the terms and conditions and the cost of the Rafale deal. There is no other way out. The Centre should clear the doubts which have cropped up in the minds of people,” Antony told reporters here on Sunday. He said the Centre should explain the reasons for overlooking the defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in favour of a private company.
“The Ministry of Defence should reveal the price for the purchase of the jets. How are ‘purchase price’ and ‘national security’ interconnected?” he asked.The then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government had floated a tender in 2007 to purchase 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the IAF. However, the deal could not be finalised during the UPA’s tenure. Later, the Narendra Modi Government signed the contract for 36 Rafale jets from France.Antony also called upon the Congress workers to brace themselves for the 2019 Parliament polls.