NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul on Gandhi Thursday accused defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "lying" on HAL's capacity to construct Rafale airplane and demanded her resignation.
The Congress leader took to Twitter to assault Sitharaman, alleging that her place as the defence minister has turn out to be untenable as a former leader of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has "nailed her lie".
"The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again. The former HAL Chief, T S Raju, has nailed her lie, that HAL didn't have the capability to build the RAFALE. Her position is untenable & she must resign," he tweeted and tagged of a media record at the former HAL leader's statement.
The Congress has alleged that the federal government caused loss of over Rs 41,000 crore to the exchequer and endangered nationwide security by means of bypassing the state-run HAL in favour of a few businessman "friends" for offset contract in the Rafale deal.
Under India's offset coverage, foreign defence entities are mandated to spend at least 30 consistent with cent of the overall contract worth in India through procurement of components or setting up of research and building amenities.
Sitharaman had previous advised PTI that it was once former defence minister A Ok Antony's unprecedented intervention that resulted in the deal being cancelled after the associated fee negotiation committee had virtually finalised the deal.
The fee has been denied by means of Antony as false.
Sitharaman had also accused Antony of now not supporting HAL in getting the Rafale deal.
The Congress has stepped up the assault at the govt over the Rafale deal and is seeking to make it a significant ballot issue ahead of meeting elections in some key states later this yr and the parliamentary election in 2019.
The Congress leader took to Twitter to assault Sitharaman, alleging that her place as the defence minister has turn out to be untenable as a former leader of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has "nailed her lie".
"The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again. The former HAL Chief, T S Raju, has nailed her lie, that HAL didn't have the capability to build the RAFALE. Her position is untenable & she must resign," he tweeted and tagged of a media record at the former HAL leader's statement.
The Congress has alleged that the federal government caused loss of over Rs 41,000 crore to the exchequer and endangered nationwide security by means of bypassing the state-run HAL in favour of a few businessman "friends" for offset contract in the Rafale deal.
Under India's offset coverage, foreign defence entities are mandated to spend at least 30 consistent with cent of the overall contract worth in India through procurement of components or setting up of research and building amenities.
Sitharaman had previous advised PTI that it was once former defence minister A Ok Antony's unprecedented intervention that resulted in the deal being cancelled after the associated fee negotiation committee had virtually finalised the deal.
The fee has been denied by means of Antony as false.
Sitharaman had also accused Antony of now not supporting HAL in getting the Rafale deal.
The Congress has stepped up the assault at the govt over the Rafale deal and is seeking to make it a significant ballot issue ahead of meeting elections in some key states later this yr and the parliamentary election in 2019.
Sitharaman 'caught laying' on Rafale deal again, must resign: Rahul Gandhi
![Sitharaman 'caught laying' on Rafale deal again, must resign: Rahul Gandhi]()
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September 20, 2018
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