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Chandigarh, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar has strongly condemned BJP president Amit Shah’s statement on the Rafale deal as a reflection of the mindset of his party, for which it was all about business, with no concern for national security.
He has also demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the Rafale deal, which he said smacked of favouritism and corruption of the highest order.
In a statement issued here, Jakhar said the Rafale purchase was just a deal for BJP while for the Congress it was a matter of national security.
Given the national security implications of the deal, the country could ill-afford to ignore the repercussions of the entire affair, said the PPCC chief, adding that the nation had the right to know everything about the controversial agreement.
Shah, by trying to undermine the statements of Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha, who had both been ministers in the Vajpayee government, has sent a clear message that there was something to hide in the deal, which the ruling party did not want to come out, said Jakhar. By dismissing the statements of Shourie and Sinha as just noise being made by those who had failed to get ‘jobs’ in the government, Shah had shown the BJP’s callousness, said the PPCC chief.
Jakhar said the Congress had taken a paper replica of the jet to parliament to show to the people that making jets was serious business and not a child’s play. Anil Ambani’s company had no experience in such critical matters but by choosing it for the deal, the BJP-led central government had exposed its intent, which was clearly not aimed at protecting national security interests, he added.
Jakhar pointed out that Anil Ambani’s company was registered just 12 days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his government’s decision to buy jets from France. A mere two days before that, Foreign Secretary Jai Shanker and Rafale CEO had also mentioned that the discussions between them on the issue were in the final stages, he furthered noted.
Criticising the manner in which the entire business was conducted, Jakhar said it was quite evident Anil Ambani was very much in the know about the deal before it was signed.
Jakhar said the fact of Ambani registering his company just days before the Rafale deal showed that he knew that the lucrative contract was coming his way.
This amounted to gross violation of the Official Secrecy Act, said Jakhar, adding that a JPC was definitely needed to get to the truth, which the people of India had every right to know.
What was at stake was not just a few crore of rupees but the very security of our nation, which cannot be allowed to be compromised at any cost, the PPCC president asserted.
