Did Nirmala Sitharaman give ‘marching orders’ to 2 French scribes?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart, the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is another cabinet minister who is being extensively targeted by Congress over the controversial Rafale deal. The Defence Minister had addressed an off-the-record briefing at around 3 pm at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in Delhi on the Rafale issue on Monday.

Sitharaman came to know about the presence of two French journalists and had reportedly asked the duo to leave the venue immediately before an off-the-record briefing could start. “As many as 30 journalists attended the briefing but when they saw two foreign journalists, they asked them to leave,” an unidentified senior journalist who attended the briefing was quoted as saying by National Herald.

The Defence Minister reportedly asked the two French journalists to leave following former France president François Hollande’s claim over Rafale deal, which triggered a massive controversy in the country. The identities of both the French journalists are yet to be verified, but they are said to be employed with Bloomberg.

Nirmala Sitharaman, while addressing an off-the-record media briefing criticised Congress president Rahul Gandhi for ‘misrepresentation of the facts’. She also told media persons that the Rafale issue has ‘international dimensions’.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi taunts PM Modi over Rafale deal, says ‘Abhi to Shuruaat hui hai’