‘Give me 20 minutes’: Rahul Gandhi dares PM to one-on-one debate on Rafale
New Delhi, Jan 02: Hours after he opened a debate on the Rafale deal in parliament, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to renew the opposition’s demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the purchase of the 36 aircrafts.
Gandhi also challenged PM Modi to a debate on the Rafale row, one-on-one.
“Give me 20 minutes,” he said at a Press conference, the request directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who the Congress president has more than once today, alleged that he was hiding from the uncomfortable questions that he had posed.
The Congress president also brushed aside strong denials from Panaji and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley about the audio tape that the party has released today. The Congress said the audio tape is a conversation between Goa minister Vishwajit Rane and another person. In this, Gandhi claimed, the Goa health minister is heard saying that during a Goa cabinet meeting last week Parrikar stated he had an entire file and all documents relating to the Rafale deal lying in his bedroom.
Vishwajit Rane has denied that he has had this conversation and along with Parrikar, called the tapes doctored.
Asked, Gandhi shot back: “What else do you expect... but a denial”.
At his evening Press conference, Rahul Gandhi repeated the party’s charge about the audio tape and claimed “Parrikar is threatening the Prime Minister of India. He is threatening to blackmail the Prime Minister of India because he has the files on Rafale deal.”
“Goa minister says that the chief minister said in a cabinet meeting that he has complete information about Rafale. He, in a way, threatened to blackmail the Prime Minister of India,” said Rahul Gandhi adding, “The question is what information is there in the bedroom of Parrikar and what is its impact on Narendra Modi.”
“There might be other tape of this nature. This is not the only one,” he added.
He also responded to barbs from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the debate in parliament; the finance minister had taken a dig at the Congress president for what he described as, his “kindergarten math”.
“In his speech, Arun Jaitley asked where the figure of Rs 1,600 crore comes from. Where does the Congress get this number? Jaitley himself said Rafale deal was of Rs 58,000 crore. If you divide Rs 58,000 by 36, the number of Rafale fighter jets to be bought, it comes at Rs 1,600 crore. So you gave us this number.”
“Mr Jaitley, you gave the figure of Rs 526 crore. Bid happened and the lowest bid went to Rafale. Figure of Rs 526 crore comes from that bid only,” Rahul Gandhi said adding, “Now it is clear that price inflated from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,600 crore.”
Rahul Gandhi alleged that “Narendra Modi changed the procedure, the air force objected to it. Sill he inflated the price to Rs 1,600 crore…Truth can’t be masked.”
Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com
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Hospital wall collapse: CM orders suspension of executive engineer; kin of victims get solatium
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of an executive engineer for the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital wall collapse that claimed the lives of seven people, during a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha.
A compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as announced by the CM Siddaramaiah, was distributed to the families of seven victims who lost their lives in the tragedy on Wednesday evening, which occurred due to heavy downpour with gusty winds and hailstorm.
The meeting of municipal commissioners of the five corporations, chaired by the chief minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, focused on fixing accountability and examining lapses that led to the tragedy.
"Why was soil dumped in a way that damaged the wall? Why did you not monitor this?" Siddaramaiah asked, pulling up hospital authorities during the meeting.
A statement from the chief minister's office said that the CM ordered the immediate suspension of the executive engineer of the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP).
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He also questioned the hospital authorities, asking why they failed to monitor the dumping of soil that weakened the structure.
The chief minister directed that a notice be issued to the head of the Hospital.
During the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the rains had caused extensive damage in the city, with over 250 trees uprooted.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to take necessary measures before the onset of the monsoon to avoid untoward incidents.
Commissioners of all five municipal zones in Bengaluru have been asked to take precautionary steps, including trimming dry and dangerous tree branches, the CMO said.
Siddaramaiah also directed them to get the silt cleared from stormwater drains to prevent flooding, and that immediate action be taken to remove debris and fallen branches from roads.
Further, he instructed that barricades be placed at underpasses where water stagnates and restricts public movement.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said in a statement that Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad distributed compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on Thursday.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed amid heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
Police said the victims, comprising three from Bengaluru, two from Kerala on a study tour and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Assam, had taken shelter near the wall when it suddenly gave way, trapping them under the debris.
The chief minister questioned officials over the dumping of soil near the wall despite knowing it could weaken the structure, and directed that a notice be issued to the head of Bowring Hospital.
Siddaramaiah, who had visited the spot soon after the incident along with senior officials, reviewed the situation and ordered a detailed probe into the collapse.
