Rafale scandal: Who is Modi loyal to?
Modi and his men seem to think that it is a huge success and a ‘clean chit’ given to them that an investigation of an alleged scam has been evaded at the outset. Supreme Court has dismissed the petition to probe into Rafale scam under the supervision of court.
Which means, the court has said it would not interfere with the matter and has hence specified its limitations in its jurisdiction. The court’s statement does not come after any investigation carried out by the Supreme Court. And the Team Modi is using it to pull wool over people’s eyes as it always does.
They are using this statement by the Court to defend themselves. They have been telling people that the court has absolved them of all corruption charges and that the court called it a clean deal, or something to that effect.
Many leaders including those from within the BJP and opposition parties have said Rafale Scam is many times bigger than the Bofors scandal. Through this scam, the government tried to axe the chances of HAL which has been bolstering and providing for the nation’s defence needs, and attempted to promote a non-entity in this sector such as Reliance.
This deal was clearly to offer advantage to Ambani family and his business, even at the cost of compromising on national security. These are the charges Modi is facing right now. His statement of palming off the blame of introducing Ambani into the deal was by Dassault Aviation has fallen flat with former President of France Hollande who said India specified the defence partner and they just went with the choice.
Even after all this, Narendra Modi government did not allow an investigation to take place. Bofors is nothing when compared to this Rafale deal which amounts to Rs one lakh crore.
Opposition parties are levelling serious charges that Modi has thrown all caution, policies and legal frameworks to wind to accommodate the interest of his corporate friends and beneficiaries. The Modi government has been issuing conflicting statements about this issue and misguiding the Parliament.
At some point, this government had said the deal was finalized by the UPA government when it was in power. The last UPA government had planned to buy 126 jets to bolster the Airforce from French company Dassault. Congress government which had faced a lot of embarrassment in case of Bofors, had taken enough care to ensure such mistakes do not repeat themselves over here.
Hence it had formed committees of experts to ratify the deals and specific issues. The committees had to submit their recommendations before the deal was finalized. Hence, the scrutiny was close at every stage.
This is how UPA planned to take the Rafale decision before buying 126 fighter jets. But everything turned topsy turvy with Modi government. The agreement that was reached during UPA was to buy jets at a cost of Rs 670 cr per unit, after long discussions that were held in 2012.
According to that, 18 jets would be bought from France and the rest of 108 jets would be assembled at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. And in the meantime when the governments changed, the CEO of Dassault Company came down to India to hold discussions in 2015. He declared the talks were finalized and the agreement was closed to start the work.
But in order to offer profits to a corporate capitalist, PM Modi ignored the defence ministry and finalized the deal with his own specific terms and conditions. HAL was kept out and Reliance, a novice in defence sector, was the new shining partner in this deal.
Modi is credited with meddling with CBI since the office began to show interest in investigating the Rafale deal. The tiff between Alok Verma and Asthana was just a pretext this government needed. Asthana was the central government’s mole in CBI who informed the centre that Verma was interested in probing this deal. Latter was sent on compulsory leave. The centre has been successful in ensuring even the SC sings its tunes. But the SC statement is filled with contradictions.
The verdict says “The price fixing details of jets have been discussed with CAG and the PAC has scrutinized it. Only part of this scrutiny has been published in Parliament and public websites”. But the PAC has already said CAG report has not reached it yet.
Hence, the question arises about whether the SC was misguided and misinformed on the whole thing? Whatever that be, if Modi is honest in his intentions, why should be fear an investigation? Can he not come out unblemished and innocent from all this? It is his duty to regain the trust and faith of the nation. If the SC cannot probe this, this should be handed over to JPC. Since this is the question of country’s safety and security, Modi has to prove whether he is loyal to Reliance or to the country.
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Inappropriate for MLAs seeking free IPL tickets, says D.K. Suresh
Bengaluru: Bengaluru Milk Union Ltd President D.K. Suresh on Monday said it is inappropriate for MLAs to seek free IPL tickets, adding that those interested in watching matches should pay for them personally.
Speaking to reporters near his residence in Sadashivanagar, he said, “IPL is a commercial tournament and does not represent the country. It is not right for public representatives to focus too much on such matters.”
Referring to the recent controversy during the RCB celebrations, he said, “let us find out who benefited the most from the statements made during the incident.” He also pointed out that BJP MLAs had received IPL tickets as well.
Responding to discussions about relocating the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Suresh said the government has already approved the construction of a new stadium at a location he had proposed.
“I had suggested building a stadium in Surya City and submitted a proposal for it. Bengaluru needs four stadiums in four directions to cater to its growing population and encourage youth participation in sports,” he said.
He noted that apart from Kanteerava Stadium, KSCA, and the Football Stadium, there are limited facilities in the city.
“When I was a Lok Sabha member, I had proposed allocating 100 acres in my constituency at Surya City. The land was later earmarked and the plan approved,” he added.
Suresh said he has discussed the project with Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Chairman Shivalingegowda, and Anekal MLA Shivanna.
“The Cabinet has now approved the project, and a stadium will be developed on around 50–60 acres,” he said.
He further added that he has requested the Deputy Chief Minister to build another stadium at Shivarama Karanth Layout through the BDA, where 40 acres have been allocated. Plans are also being discussed to develop a well-equipped stadium in Bidadi.
Commending state government's recent bilingual policy move, Suresh said forcing children to learn three languages could affect their comprehension.
“It is a good decision to make two languages compulsory. Learning a third language should be left to the choice of students and parents,” he said.
Responding to criticism from BJP leaders, he said their tendency is to oppose every decision of the government.
“To please their central leadership, they take a pro-Hindi stance. Instead, they should advocate for the adoption of Kannada in all states,” he said.
When asked about the earlier three-language policy under Congress, he said, “the situation is different now. Today, the focus should be on quality learning. Kannada should remain the primary language, while students and parents can choose an additional language.”
