Congress accuses Nirmala Sitharaman of lying on Rafale, wants JPC
New Delhi, Sep 13: Firing a fresh salvo against the Modi government over the Rafale deal, the Congress on Thursday accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "lying" again" about the number of the France-built jets and demanded her and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to submit to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe.
"Defence Minister is caught lying again on the number of fighter aircraft required by Indian Air Force (IAF)," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told the media. "Her claim that IAF does not have the infrastructure like parking place, maintenance facility to fly 126 Fighter aircraft is preposterous and goes against the grain of national security requirements," he said.
He said Modi's decision to "arbitrarily" reduce requirement of 126 fighter aircraft to 36 was "unexplainable".
His remarks were in reference to Sitharaman's interview to a national daily wherein she has said that the "government chose to procure only 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France in 2015, instead of the 126 being negotiated by the previous government, as infrastructure and other technical requirements of the IAF do not allow greater induction".
Dismissing Sitharaman's argument as "obnoxious" the Congress leader asked: "Can the government and IAF not create parking space/maintenance facility in 6-8 years period during which the aircraft will be delivered?
"Can creation of parking space/maintenance facility be a ground for compromising air superiority and national security?"
Surjewala also held Sitharaman "guilty" of not disclosing the fact that mandatory ‘Fast Track Procedure' for affecting ‘emergency purchase' was never followed by Modi at the time of announcement of purchase of 36 Rafale on 10th April, 2015".
"She has also failed to point out that no such ‘emergency purchase' was approved either by the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar or Cabinet Committee on Security. How does she now explain the fact that despite the ‘emergency purchase' in April 2015, aircraft will not be delivered up to the year 2022 and that also without ‘India specific enhancements'," said the Congress leader.
He also indicted Sitharaman of "lying on the non-disclosure of price of Rafale" which she had agreed to publicly disclose in a press conference on Nov 17 2017.
"Let the Prime Minister and Defence Minister own accountability and submit to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe instead of lying to the nation," added Surjewala.
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Davanagere South bypoll: Cong Muslim leaders allege internal conspiracy to defeat party candidate
Bengaluru (PTI): A rift within the Karnataka Congress surfaced on Friday, a day after the bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in the state, as a group of Muslim leaders alleged a "conspiracy" by some of their own senior party leaders to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
However, they asserted that despite efforts by some within to project that Congress "betrayed" Muslims, the party candidate Samarth Mallikarjun will win in Davanagere South, the constituency where the community has a significant presence.
Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Saleem Ahmed, MLAs Rizwan Arshad, Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, MLC Bilkis Bano, and other Congress leaders addressed a joint press conference regarding this at the party office here.
"It is a sad thing that some senior leaders of our own party have conspired to defeat the Congress, despite this minorities have voted for the Congress. KPCC President (D K Shivakumar), the Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) and the AICC General Secretary (Randeep Singh Surjewala) are aware of this. People have voted for Congress, its ideology and its five guarantee schemes," Ahmed said.
Noting that Samath Mallikarjun was given a ticket after taking all minority leaders of the party into confidence and following their consent, he said, "But after that because of some misconceptions, conspiracies have been hatched. But still, I'm confident that Congress candidate Samarth will win".
According to party sources, these Muslim leaders have also complained to AICC and state party leadership regarding attempts for "internal sabotage" in Davanagere South.
Though the leaders did not indicate who they were accusing. Several party sources said their attack was directed at Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, among a few others.
Khan, who had openly demanded the Davanagere South ticket for a Muslim candidate, had initially stayed away from campaigning in the segment, citing his Kerala poll responsibilities. However, he addressed a press meet along with Samarth's father and Minister SS Mallikarjun at the request of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
MLA Arshad said that there was a massive social media campaign against the Congress party, by the BJP, SDPI and Independents, alleging "betrayal" of the minorities by the Congress. Some within the party, too, tried to project the same.
"We indeed demanded a ticket for the minority, and the party considered it. However, since we, as minority leaders, had to provide a unanimous candidate, we only put forward Abdul Jabbar's name because he is the MLC from the region, and he also pressured us. I think we first failed there, as ground-level party workers did not accept it and some other leaders believed he wasn't that popular," he said.
Arshad noted that the party finally named Samarth Mallikarjun as the candidate "after considering all factors and taking all Muslim leaders into confidence".
"However, some of us Muslim leaders who worked for the party's official candidate were projected as anti-Muslim on social media," he claimed.
Some leaders who accepted the party's decision to nominate Samarth as the party candidate during the meeting called to decide it later showed indirect signs of resistance, he said. "An attempt was made by others, including some within the Congress, to project that the Congress has betrayed the Muslims. This has caused us pain."
Bypolls for Davanagere South were held along with Bagalkot on Thursday. The election was necessitated following the death of sitting MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti respectively.
Muslim disgruntlement appears to be a concern for the Congress in Davanagere South. With 14 of the 25 candidates in the fray belonging to the community, there are apprehensions within the party about a split in votes, which could benefit the BJP.
Given its significant presence in the constituency, the Muslim community strongly demanded the Congress ticket for Davanagere South. Some party factions had opposed giving the ticket to the Shamanur family.
Although the Congress was successful in persuading rebel candidate Sadiq Pailwan to withdraw from the contest, he remained in the fray as the move came after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
