Rafale deal should not go 'unchallenged': Chidambaram
Bengaluru, Dec 21: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Friday said the Rs 60,000 crore worth Rafale deal should not go "unchallenged" after the Supreme Court expressed its limitations to examine it because of its jurisdictional limits.
He alleged the Centre deliberately misled the court and later accused it of "misinterpreting" the note.
"The government is also giving lessons in English grammar to the court," he told reporters here.
"A defence deal worth Rs 60,000 crore that will leave the country with only 36 aircraft, as against 126 contracted for under the UPA, cannot go unchallenged or unexamined, especially after Supreme Court expressed its limitations to examine the case due to jurisdictional limits," Chidambaram said.
The party (Congress), therefore, is taking up the cause before the people and asking them to support its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the deal, he said.
The former Union finance minister also questioned the decision to cancel an earlier MoU and enter into a new agreement.
The governments of India and France had entered into an MoU under which India would buy 126 Rafale twin-engine multi-role fighter aircraft, he said.
The price per aircraft discovered through an international bid opened on December 12, 2012 was Rs 526.10 crore, Chidambaram said, adding Dassault, the manufacturer, would supply 18 aircraft in fly-away condition.
The remaining 108 aircraft would be manufactured in India at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's (HAL) facilities in Bengaluru using Dassault technology that would be available to HAL under a Transfer of Technology agreement, he said.
"This MoU was cancelled and the prime minister announced the new deal on April 10, 2015," he added.
Chidambaram also questioned the government for its decision to buy only 36 aircraft when the need was for at least 126 aircraft.
He said by all accounts, the government was purchasing the same aircraft from the same manufacturer under the same configuration.
"The last phrase is found in the joint statement dated April 10, 2015. Is it true that the price per aircraft under the new agreement is Rs 1,670 crore (as disclosed by Dassault) and, if true, what is the justification for the three-fold price increase?" he said.
The former finance minister said if the price of the aircraft under the new agreement was indeed cheaper by 9 per cent, as claimed by the government, "why is it buying only 36 aircraft and not all the 126 aircraft offered by Dassault?".
He also asked the reason for scrapping the agreement to transfer the technology to HAL, which has an experience of 77 years and has manufactured a variety of aircraft under licence from the respective manufacturer.
"When entering into the new agreement, there was no mention of Transfer of Technology from Dassault to HAL," he said.
Chidambaram said former French president Francois Hollande had disclosed that the Indian government had suggested the name of a private sector company as the offset partner, and that France and Dassault had "no choice" in the matter.
The Centre, however, has denied that it had suggested the name.
"The question that arises is, did the government suggest any name at all and, if not, why did it not suggest the name of HAL?" the Congress leader added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Constitution amendment bill defeat was BJP’s first embarrassment in Parliament: Margaret Alva
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva on Monday said that the constitution amendment bill's defeat in the Lok Sabha on April 17 was the first embarrassment faced by the BJP-led government in Parliament.
She also alleged that the BJP has no real concern regarding women’s reservation.
The opposition INDIA bloc defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill that sought to facilitate the implementation of women's reservation by expanding the strength of the Lok Sabha, apart from making changes to delimitation.
"This is the first embarrassment and defeat faced by the NDA government in the Lok Sabha," the former Governor of Gujarat and Rajasthan said in a press conference here.
According to her, the women’s reservation has been under discussion since the time of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, a 14-member committee was formed, and I was appointed as its chairperson. We prepared a report after studying what needed to be done to enhance the dignity of women across 12 sectors. This was submitted to the government in 1989,” Alva, 84-year-old veteran Congress leader, said.
She said political empowerment for women was emphasised in that report, without which, empowerment in any other sphere is not possible.
“Many people in Parliament used to question me — should we vacate seats for women and stay at home cooking? Why insist on this? Has anyone written these seats in your name? This debate has been ongoing since 1975,” Alva explained.
The Congress leader said Rajiv Gandhi had introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.
“At that time, all opposition parties united and defeated the Bill,” she pointed out.
Again, during the tenure of former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao, the 33 per cent reservation Bill in local bodies was passed.
“It was the Congress party that first introduced women’s reservation. Now they are falsely accusing us of being anti-women,” Alva charged.
In 2023, the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed with much fanfare, but it was not immediately implemented.
According to her, a condition was imposed for its implementation that it would be enforced based on census data.
"Once it is in the statute book, what is preventing its implementation? Two years for the census and another two years for delimitation — this means it cannot be implemented by 2029. It was not given in 2024, and there is no possibility even in 2029," Alva charged the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The Congress leader said the BJP is saying that the Bill can be implemented based on the 2011 Census, but when the same suggestion was made in 2023, the BJP rejected it.
On increasing the Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent, she sought to know the basis for it.
“Where did this (idea) come from? Whose advice was taken? Was it decided by the RSS? Or ordered by a court?” Alva asked.
The former union minister said the Constitution amendment bill, which was defeated on April 17 appears to favour certain North Indian states.
“We pay taxes, but they receive greater benefits and allocations. If seats are increased by 50 per cent based on their calculations, we would get only 14 additional seats, while they would get 40. How is this fair?” she questioned.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to "operationalise" the women's reservation act before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory Assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
