Shameful that boss is silencing you, says Rahul to Sitharaman on Rafale deal

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Rafale deal and said that it was shameful that her boss was silencing her.

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bypassing procedure in finalising the purchase of 36 fighter jets with the French.

In a tweet, Rahul asked several questions on the deal,"Please tell us: 1. Final price of each Rafale jet? 2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris? 3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL & gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience?"

His tweets comes a day after Sitharaman rubbished all allegations leveled by the Congress party over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, stating that the UPA regime which was previously in power for 10 years could not make a decision on the jets, despite recognising the depleting the combat strength of the Indian Air Force.

The Congress had accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "misleading" the nation on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal by not making public the price of the aircraft, and alleged a "cover-up".

India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs. 58,000 crore, nearly one-and-half years after the Prime Minister announced the proposal during a visit to Paris.

The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September, 2019.

OneIndia News