As Rafale soars to India, NCP says 'air of suspicion remains'; rekindles Rahul's 'scam'

As India awaits the arrival of 5 Rafale jets on Wednesday, the Opposition has raked up Rahul Gandhi's 'Rafale scam' angle all over again, despite Supreme Court's clearance to the deal. After Congress raised the issue, NCP has said that air of suspicion around the jet deal still remains. Taking to Twitter, NCP's Majeed Memon cast his doubt on the deal and said that people of India are entitled to know the transactional details. This comes despite previous Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarifying a number of times about the deal and the details. 

Congress Reopens 'Rafale Scam' Angle

Earlier in the day, Digvijaya Singh had alleged that the government compromised with national security as it ordered only 36 Rafale aircraft instead of 126. In a series of tweets in Hindi, the former Madhya Pradesh CM slammed the government and claimed that it has not been able to tell the price of one Rafale jet yet despite asking questions. 

Singh said, "Finally the Rafale fighter plane has arrived. Congress-led UPA had decided to buy 126 Rafales in 2012. Except for 18 Rafales, rest were to be built at HAL. This was proof of self-reliant India. One Rafale was going to cost Rs 746 crore." 

"After Modi government came to power, Modi entered into a new agreement with France without the approval of the Ministry of Defense and Finance and the Cabinet Committee and signed an agreement to give away the rights of HAL to the private company. Ignoring national security, instead of buying 126 Rafale, he decided to buy only 36," the Congress leader added.

READ | Five Rafale jets to land in Ambala today, security tightened around air base

SC's Rafale Verdict

The Supreme Court had in 2019 dismissed the review petitions against its December 14, 2018 judgment upholding the 36 Rafale jets' deal, and giving a clean chit to the Modi government. The review petitions asked for a review in the jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation. The top court rejected the plea that there was a necessity for registration of an FIR in connection with the Rafale deal. The top court had said that it did not find any reason to embark on a 'roving and fishing inquiry.'

Moreover, SC, while dismissing the contempt proceeding against Rahul Gandhi which was filed by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, had issued the then Congress chief a stern warning. In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had attributed his ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Modi to the Apex Court. Following this, Lekhi filed a contempt plea. After the SC issued a contempt notice against Gandhi, the latter tendered an apology seeking closure of the proceedings. The top court accepted his apology and while pulling up the leader for making false attributions to the Court.

READ | Congress reopens 'Rafale scam' angle before jets' arrival; upholds deal UPA wanted

READ | Rafale review petitions dismissed by SC, court rejects 'roving & fishing inquiry'