Congress seriously compromising country's security: Jaitley hits back on Rafale
New Delhi, Feb 8 (IBNS): Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday hit back on the Congress party and charged it with compromising the country's security by seeking details of the Rafale fighter jet deal, media reports said.
"I charge the Congress of seriously compromising India's security...Mr Modi has run a clean government for last four years, so let us manufacturer a crisis, let us manufacture an issue," Jaitley said while replying to the debate on the budget.
He also advised Congress president Rahul Gandhi to learn "lessons on national security" from former Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
"Your party was stigmatised when you were in government because of allegation of corruption. Now the new act is, let us manufacture an allegation of corruption against the NDA. So when you couldn't find anything, you said please disclose the price of the Rafale deal," said Jaitley.
Earlier in the evening Rahul Gandhi once again used the weapon of sarcasm to take a sharp dig at Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who refused to reveal the price at which the central government finalised the Rafale deal.
Rahul, putting up a question on Twitter, said: "Q. Why did the Raksha Mantri change her stance from : I will reveal the price of the RAFALE planes in Nov 2017 to the price is a state secret in Feb 2018 A. Corruption B. To protect Modiji C. To protect Modiji's friend D. All of above."
He has also used the #TheGreatRafaleMystery in his tweet.
Couple of days ago, Sitharaman said she cannot reveal the details of the agreement for 36 jets citing it as "classified information".
Reacting to Sitharaman's statement, Rahul on Tuesday told media the unwillingness to reveal the details of the deal implies that it is a scam.
The Congress chief even asked media to be fair and report on the Rafale deal, which he considers to be a corruption by the Modi government.
Earlier during the Gujarat poll, raising the issue, Gandhi had said the NDA government made an agreement of Rafael jets at a higher price than it was decided by its predecessor.
The Congress had alleged that Reliance has been picked as a partner to a French firm Dessault for "crony capitalism" in the Rafale jet fighter deal.
The principal opposition party had even alleged that the company has led to an "insurmountable loss" to the public exchequer with the Rafale fighter jet deal where Dessault will provide 36 Rafale jets to the Indian Air Force.
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