Arun Jaitley asks 15 questions to Rahul Gandhi on Rafale deal; says Congress’ allegations are ‘factually false’

Rahul Gandhi led Congress party has been continuously targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP party over the Rafale deal. Replying to the allegations, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has posted a set of 15 questions to the Congress in his latest post on Facebook, asking the Congress party to stop their ‘false campaign based on untruth’ against the Dassault Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

“This (allegations on Rafale deal) is like a kindergarten or primary school debate. ‘Well, I was paying 500 something and you’ve paid 1,600 something’. That’s the argument being given; it shows how little understanding Rahul Gandhi has,” Arun Jaitley told news agency ANI. “Every single word in the Congress’s allegation is false,” he said.

15 Questions that Expose Congress Party’s Falsehood on Rafale https://t.co/Jab0eMYGAh

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) August 29, 2018

Mr Jaitley added that,”Not only did Congress get a bad deal, they compromised national security by abandoning it due to policy paralysis,” said the finance minister, adding he wants Rahul Gandhi to answer all the points he has raised.

The French Dassault Rafale multirole jet was chosen in 2012. India planned to buy 18 off-the-shelf jets from Dassault Aviation, with 108 others to be assembled in the country by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd located in Bangalore.

In 2015, the newly elected Prime Minister scrapped the UPA’s plan and announced it would buy 36 “ready-to-fly” Rafale jets instead of seeking a technology transfer from Dassault Aviation and making the aircraft in India.

“The Congress is known for scandals in defence deals… they also sat for decades without being able to sign an agreement to enhance India’s fleet of aircraft… They were willing to buy 100 percent foreign-made aircraft and never promote private manufacturing in India,” said the finance minister who has actively supported the government’s “Make-in-India” programme to boost manufacturing in India.

I am asking these questions as his misadventure is impairing national interest and I hope Shri Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party would respond immediately.

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) August 29, 2018

Also Read: Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi questions Parrikar’s silence on Rafale Deal