PANAJI
Congress national spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi on Monday questioned the silence of CM Manohar Parrikar on the Rafale deal saying it (his silence) was a conspiracy which has betrayed the nation.
Chaturvedi, who is member of the Congress Communication Department headed by Randeep Surjewala, was in Goa specifically to take forward the party's assault against the ruling BJP on the alleged scam in the Rafale deal.
The national spokesman said, Parrikar was the defence minister when the deal was signed in France and he was aware that several norms were violated in the purchase of the fighter jets from Dessault Rafale.
The Modi government signed the Rafale deal in September 2016 to purchase 36 fighter aircrafts at a price that has still not been made officially public. The Rafale saga first began when Congress-led UPA was in power and had negotiated for 126 aircrafts - out of which 80 would be bought in a fly away condition while the rest were to be made in India, by Public Sector HAL, through transfer of technology.
In April 2015, PM Modi traveled to France and changed the terms of the deal. Transfer of technology was taken out of the picture, and only 36 aircrafts were agreed upon for a figure of Rs 1,670 cr per aircraft, while the UPA claimed to have negotiated a price of Rs 560 cr per aircraft.
Chaturvedi explained that Parrikar, just days before the deal was signed, went on record to say that the terms of the deal were non-negotiable.
"But those were the very clauses that were negotiated on the table in France," said Chaturvedi, adding, "Parrikar himself was not prepared for the deal and was caught off-guard. Yet, he continues to maintain silence on an issue that has national relevance."
"Will CM Parrikar who claims to be honest, speak up and tell us why the nation was betrayed when he was watching over the nation's interests?" asked Chaturvedi, alleging that that Parrikar did not even know that a deal had been negotiated, signed, and agreed upon.
"I would expect a Defence Minister who knows that Cabinet Committee on Security norms are by-passed, who knows transfer of technology benefit is not coming to our country, that defense-procurement procedure was not followed, and that self-interests were served over nation's interest to speak up," she said.
She further explained that the UPA had come down to two final choices- the Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale. When governments changed in India, Eurofighter wrote to Arun Jaitley asking for a chance to match the prices of Rafale, but they were denied.
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Sr Rane will be held accountable for toilet comment, assures Chaturvedi
Congress national spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the party will hold senior leader Pratapsing Rane "accountable" for his controversial comments deriding Goans working abroad and will take whatever action is deemed fit by the party at the local level.
Addressing the media at the State party headquarters, Chaturvedi said that Sr Rane's statement was unfair, as every single person contributed in their own way to nation-building whether they're living in India or abroad.
"No job is too small, or lowly. We respect every segment of this country and its workers whether they're living in India or abroad. This has been the ethos, the culture of the Congress," Chaturvedi said.
Chaturvedi said Rane would be held accountable, and the party would take whatever action the state party deemed fit.
