Rafale deal turning out to be another huge scam: Congress

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi met French President Emannuel Macron yesterday, the Congress Party slammed the government over the Rafale fighter jet deal, saying it was turning out to be yet another “mother scam”.Asking the government to come clear on the deal, Congress spokesman Tom Vadakkan said: “You must be aware that for the last three-four days, we have been speaking (in parliament) about the Rafale deal. For three days continuously we have been asking, but not one word from the government, not even denial.“This is turning out to be yet another mother scam which I think the National Democratic Alliance government must come clean on,” the Congress leader said.“Where are the spokespersons of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ministers – Piyush Goyal, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman? Not one word about Rafale deal,” he added.Vadakkan said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempt to cover up the deal was falling flat. “On April 8, 2016, the foreign secretary said the prime minister is not going to take up the Rafale deal in his trip to France. On the contrary, the deal was signed. Where was the defence minister at that time?”The spokesman also said India had paid high price to France for the purchase of the fighter aircraft compared to prices paid by other countries.“It was not some charity. The government should answer where the money has gone. It is very strange indeed. What is it that they are trying to cover up? What is it that they are trying to hide,” he asked.France wanted India to announce its interest in acquiring another 36 Rafale fighters, after the Indian Air Force inducts the first 36 jets being acquired under the €7.87bn deal inked in September 2016, but it found no mention in the joint statement by the two countries yesterday.French Defence Minister Florence Parly, ahead of Macron’s visit to India, had written to her Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman that France was keen to “initiate discussions on the proposal of providing an additional 36 aircraft to the IAF, with a very significant share of Make in India”.