Narendra Modi broke legal norms in Rafale jets deal, says Abhishek Manu Singhvi
The Congress leader alleged that in its enthusiasm for foreign direct investment in defence, the government was doing away with requisite checks and balances of the Intelligence Bureau as well as the Research and Analysis Wing.
Continuing its tirade against the Narendra Modi rule in the runup to its first-year celebrations, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Saturday questioned the government's performance on defence and security, saying there was many a slip between the cup and the lip.
Speaking to reporters Ahmedabad at the Congress headquarters, Singhvi expressed his surprise over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement to buy 36 Rafale jets off-the-shelf and asserted that he had broken the established legal norms of purchasing defence equipment by the country.
"The PM keeps talking of 'Make in India' and says that the additional 108 aircraft will be made in India, but there is no talk of technology transfer. The purchase is unilateral and is nothing but 'Make in France'," he said.
Singhvi said the government should also ensure that the manufacturer of Rafale, Dassault, made its deals with Egypt and Qatar public. Both these nations had made similar purchases from Dassault. "The Rafale deal, we believe, could well be a scam in the making," he added.
The Congress leader alleged that in its enthusiasm for foreign direct investment in defence, the government was doing away with requisite checks and balances of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) as well as the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
Singhvi was here as part of the Congress' plan to draft five Central leaders to Gujarat one after the other and speak about the Modi government's performance in different sectors. Former Union minister C.P. Joshi and Haryana leader Deepender Hooda came calling earlier in the week. Senior member of the party think-tank, Jairam Ramesh, was in Ahmedabad last month.
Singhvi said, "This government talks of having an imaginary chest of 56 (inches) but their actions speak differently. They have not been able to spend `28,446 crore of defence budget by as much as 13 per cent."
Singhvi said the government had slashed by half the `85,000-crore allocation for the newly-created 90,000-strong elite Mountain Strike Corp to defend the country's boundaries with China.