‘Utterly irresponsible’ says Ravi Shankar Prasad on Rahul's Rafale attack

New Delhi, Sep 22: Dismissing Rahul Gandhi's allegations, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of corruption in the Rafale deal. "Congress tried to renegotiate Rafale deal in 2012 for kickbacks," he said.

Addressing a press conference Prasad said "Never before in history of independent India, has a party president used such words for a PM. We can't expect anything else from Rahul Gandhi. He has no quality or ability, he's there due to his family."

He also ruled out a joint parliamentary committee probe saying it cannot be done to satisfy the ego of an "ill-informed leader".

Prasad accused Gandhi of "playing into the hands of Pakistan and China" by seeking the details of the Rafale fighter jets. He also alleged that there was pressure for extraneous considerations and "bribe" for not finalising the Rafale deal during the UPA rule despite holding negotiations for years. He said Reliance and Dassault had entered into agreement as early as 2012 when UPA was in power.

Attacking the Congress chief for PM Modi on corruption allegations, the Union minister said that "Rahul Gandhi is chargesheeted in National Herald case with his mother. He is silent on land grabbing accusations against his brother-in-law (Robert Vadra)."

"It is important to expose Rahul Gandhi's lies. In August 2007, a Request for Proposal was issued. Two companies came forward. The deal was finalised after nine years," he said.

"We need weapons, missiles, defence machinery on it. We need to fit it with bombs. So we are not irresponsible like Rahul Gandhi to disclose exact details," he further said.

As mentioned by (Finance Minister) Arun Jaitley, the price negotiated by NDA is 9% less for basic aircraft and 20% less in case of fully loaded, as compared to UPA's price," said Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Defence Ministry too issued a statement reiterating that "the government has no role in the selection of Indian Offset partner which is a commercial decision of the Original Equipment Manufacturer."

Rahul Gandhi, in his sharpest attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today said "former French president Francois Hollande is calling the Prime Minister of India a thief" and that the PM needs to break his silence. Calling the Rafale deal corrupt, Rahul Gandhi said it was "obvious that PM Modi is corrupt."

"Former French president calls our PM a thief... What is staggering is that the Prime Minister is still silent on it. Not a single word from him... It is very important for the prime minister now to either accept Hollande's statement or state that Hollande is lying and tell what the truth is," Gandhi said at a press conference this afternoon.