Secrecy agreement signed in 2008: Sitharaman counters Rahul Gandhi over Rafale deal
New Delhi, July 20 (IBNS): Countering Congress president Rahul Gandhi's allegations over the Rafale deal, Defence Minister Sitharaman has said a secrecy deal with France was signed in 2008 under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.
Targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly during his speech on the No Confidence Motion in Lok Sabha on Friday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Sitharaman lied about the facts of the Rafale deal and a secrecy clause with France under pressure of the PM.
"Nirmala Sitharaman lied to the country over the Rafale deal under Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she said she could not reveal the details of the deal owing to a secret pact with France. There is no such pact," said Rahul.
The Congress president said he came to know from French President Emmanuel Macron himself that there was no secret pact between India and France.
He attacked the PM and the BJP on ‘favouritism’ on the Rafale deal by assigning it to a businessman with no experience in building planes, instead of to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
Rubbishing Rahul's allegations, Sitharaman said a secrecy agreement was signed in 2008 under then Defence Minister AK Antony.
Amid pandemonium, she further said Macron told an Indian media outlet in an interview that the commercial details of the Rafale jets deal can't be revealed.
Rahul Gandhi is lying on Rafale deal. Here is what French President Emmanuel Macron had to say on the deal -
— BJP (@BJP4India) July 20, 2018
"Obviously you have competitors and we can't let them know details of the deal. In India and in France, when the deal is very sensitive, we can't reveal details." pic.twitter.com/PvFmSbTnGy
Chandrababu Naidu's TDP has brought the no-confidence motion, demanding a special status for Andhra Pradesh.
The motion is supported by the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
With 314 members in the lower house of Parliament, the no-trust motion is not a threat to the BJP-led NDA government, since the number is more than the half-way mark (272).
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) ally partner Shiv Sena said it will abstain from voting in the motion.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has walked out of the Lok Sabha.
Union Minister Ananth Kumar earlier said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is having the full support of its allies.
While interacting with reporters, Kumar said: "NDA has full support of its allies. We will also have support from other political parties. All our allies are together."
The voting is scheduled to take place at 6 pm.
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