BJP hits back at Congress, says Rafale deal profitable
New Delhi, July 27 : The BJP on Friday hit back at Congress over its allegations on the Rafale fighter jet deal, saying it had been "profitable" to the country.
THe party said the Modi government negotiated the deal with France at nine per cent less cost compared to that done by the former UPA.
The BJP posted a video with headline "Facts you need to know about Rafale deal!" on its official twitter handle claiming that the "most ambitious fighter aircraft aquisition project" from France was fixed at Euro 91.75 mn/aircraft (Rs 733.66 crore, as per current exchange rate: one Euro equals to Rs 79.96).
According to the video, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team put their best efforts to rework the Rafale deal with France in 2016 and "it successfully finalised the deal at 9 per cent less cost" by buying 36 aircraft at Rs 733.66 crore apiece."
The video also claimed that in 2011 the price negotiated by the UPA for 126 Rafale aircraft was Euro 100.85 mn/aircraft (Rs 806.43 crore/aircraft).
Earlier, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi rejected the fresh allegations as "baseless" , saying the opposition party is repeating same claims in "frustration" which has already been rebutted by Union Ministers and the French government.
"The BJP never levelled allegations in defence deals. It was members of Congress government or foreign countries which first alleged corruption in cases like Bofors deal or AgustaWestland chopper purchase," Trivedi said at a press conference.
He said those levelling allegations should first hear defence experts and refrain from politicising such deals.
The BJP leader said the Congress-led governments never allowed defence production in the country so that it could strike "deals" with foreign suppliers.
"Now, they are levelling baseless allegations after the Modi government has started working towards domestic production," he said.
Earlier in the day, the Congress accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "lying" on Reliance Defence Limited, which it said didn't have the experience in manufacturing fighter jets, having secured an offset contract from Dassault Aviation for Rs.30,000 crore and a consequent ‘Lifecycle Cost Contract of Rs. 1 lakh crore in the Rafale deal.
Stressing that national interest was being compromised by the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister, Congress demanded that Modi must "break his silence over whether he represented the interest of private companies and industrial houses."
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
