Why government scared of JPC on Rafale deal, asks Congress
New Delhi, Aug 29 : The Congress on Wednesday kept up its attack on the Rafale deal, alleging that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was trying to cover up a "scandal with scandal" and asked why the government was "scared" for a JPC probe.
Party President Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jailtey in a tweet while Congress Spokesperson Manish Tewari posed queries on the deal at the party's regular briefing here.
The opposition party's attack came hours after Jaitley, in a blogpost, termed the Congress charges on the Rafale deal "complete falsehood."
Hitting back, Gandhi said that the government should then accept a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe.
"Mr Jaitley, thanks for bringing the nation's attention back to the Great Rafale Robbery! How about a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to sort it out?" Problem is, your supreme leader is protecting his friend. So this may be inconvenient. Do check and revert in 24 hours. We're waiting!" Gandhi said.
Jaitley too had asked Gandhi and his party to "respond immediately" to the questions raised by him.
Tewari said that a joint statement by India and France completely demolished the "very feeble defence" sought to be put by the Minister.
"In Modi government, collective responsibility is that no Minister has the responsibility of his own Ministry. This is the most peculiar form of government functioning we have seen. The timing of the Finance Minister's defence of Rafale when the RBI is releasing data on demonetisation. It will not be a remiss to say that the Minister is trying to cover one scandal with another scandal," Tewari said.
He said the party has been consistently demanding a JPC probe into the Rafale deal.
"If the government has nothing to hide, if the Finance Minister or the Prime Minister feel that everything is above board, why are they scared of facing a JPC? A JPC should be constituted and all questions which the Finance Minister raised, which primarily were a smokescreen to obfuscate the issue, will be absolutely blown out of water," Tewari said.
The Congress leader also demanded that the government state the final price at which the negotiations on the fighter jet deal with France were left in 2012 under the then UPA dispensation.
"Why is the government -- if it has all facts, if it is transparent -- shying away from placing the figures before the country?" he asked.
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses EC of ‘bias’, defends state guarantee schemes ahead of bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the EC of "double standards" and "bias" after it sought details on the state’s guarantee schemes in Davanagere and Bagalkot districts, where bypolls are scheduled for Thursday.
In a post on 'X' on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission of India had asked the Karnataka government for information on fund releases under five ongoing guarantee schemes in the constituencies going to polls.
The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively.
The schemes are Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity to every household; Gruha Lakshmi, offering Rs 2,000 to women heading families; and Anna Bhagya, supplying 10 kg of rice per month to each member of BPL families.
In addition, Yuva Nidhi grants Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders aged 18–25 for two years, while Shakti enables women to travel free of charge within Karnataka on government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the ECI had remained silent when similar cash transfer schemes were announced in Maharashtra and Bihar ahead of elections, calling the scrutiny of Karnataka’s schemes a "clear case of bias".
"In states like Maharashtra and Bihar, cash transfer schemes were announced or fast-tracked just before elections, directly benefiting voters. Yet the ECI remained silent. This is not neutrality—it is complicity," he said.
The CM accused the BJP and NDA governments of "a double standard", noting that when they act, the ECI "looks the other way", but when Karnataka fulfils its promises, it faces "intense scrutiny".
He added that targeting the state’s guarantee schemes is "not just political but anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-Karnataka."
Siddaramaiah clarified that these schemes were not launched in connection with the bypolls but are ongoing programmes implemented as part of the Congress government’s commitments from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Funds are transferred regularly to beneficiaries in a transparent and structured manner, he added.
"The guarantees are part of governance—a direct investment in human dignity, household stability, and economic participation, not inducement," he said.
He also accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", saying that while it criticises Karnataka’s schemes as "freebies", it rolls out similar programmes in states it governs.
"The Karnataka model has set a benchmark for the country. What is deeply concerning, however, is the ECI’s selective approach," Siddaramaiah added.
