Modi government violated procedures in Rafale deal: Kapil Sibal
New Delhi, Sep 9: The Modi government violated procedures in the Rafale deal with the External Affairs Ministry not in the know before it was announced in 2015, alleges senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who wants the government to tell the truth to the people, including the price of the fighter jets.
"You buy 36 Rafales off-the-shelf without informing the foreign ministry. Even the CEO of Dassault did not know 15 days before the announcement. He thought 95 per cent of the deal with HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) had been done, only five per cent was left," Sibal told IANS in an interview.
He said then Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was not aware of the deal two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced it in France on April 10, 2015.
In his just-released book, "Shades of Truth--Journey Derailed", the former Union minister refers to the fighter jet deal continuing to be a mystery. Modi did not take into confidence the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, when on a visit to Paris in April 2015, he announced the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft off-the-shelf.
On the eve of Modi's visit to France, at a customary press conference, Jaishankar told the media that HAL was Dassault Aviation's partner, thereby suggesting that the public sector undertaking was ready to strike the deal.
Modi broke convention by announcing the deal on foreign soil and surprised everyone by snatching it away from HAL. In March 2015, Dassault and HAL had publicly announced that the deal was 90 per cent done. By April 2015, on his visit to France, the deal was undone. "The stepmotherly treatment of a PSU surprised even those in government. Modi preferred a private company to a PSU for reasons that he knows best," Sibal says in the book.
"Let's look at the facts. Let's assume for a moment that all the procedures were followed. On April 8, Foreign Secretary makes a public statement when asked if Rafale is going to be finalised when the PM goes there (to France). He says no... prime ministers don't talk about these deals. This is not on the table at all. Our leaders are going to talk about different issues. So obviously the foreign ministry had no knowledge. Parrikar says he was told about it three days before," Sibal said.
"What's the harm in telling us the price of components? Nobody wants to know the technology of those components. We want to know the price. What is the harm in telling us the price? These are questions that have to be answered. If you don't answer them, there is an ill of suspicion," he said.
Asked about government's assertion that there is no wrongdoing in the deal, he said: "It is like saying that the Birla diaries have certain names but there is no evidence. Unless you investigate how will you get evidence?"
Sibal said the previous deal negotiated by the Congress-led United Progressive Aliance (UPA) government for the purchase of 126 Rafales was cancelled by the present government.
"That deal was cancelled, you need an entirely new procedure. And remember, Eurofigter at that point in time offered 20 per cent discount. None of the procedures were followed. There are detailed guidelines and procedures. There is no price negotiating committee (PNC) for this deal, no contract negotiating committee (CNC)," he said.
Asked about the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) contention that the deal had gone through the channels of the PNC and the CNC, Sibal said the procedures BJP leaders were referring to were for the deal negotiated by the UPA government. He said the CNC and the PNC were formed after Modi announced the deal.
There was no CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) before the deal. "How could there be CCS when he said I buy 36 Rafales off-the-shelf. So you can ex-post facto say anything but there are procedures to be followed."
Asked if the Modi government was rattled by Congress allegations on the Rafale deal, Sibal said the issue was not if it was rattled or not.
"People should know the truth. Why does the government not tell them the truth? What is the harm in telling us the price? After all, it has gone from Rs 520 odd crores to Rs 1,600 crores."
Asked if Rafale will be party's poll plank in the forthcoming assembly elections and the next Lok Sabha polls, Sibal said poll planks were already on the ground.
Referring to the petrol and diesel prices reaching record levels, he said the common man was hit hard. "These are the poll planks. Remember what Modi said what I will do in 60 months what Congress did not do in 60 years and he was right. Because Congress never brought the price of petrol to Rs 86 a litre."
On the rupee falling to record levels against the dollar, Sibal said: "What happened to chappan inch ki chaati and 48 ka rupiah (56 inch chest and Rs 48 against a dollar). It is now almost 72 against a dollar. It is aging faster than anybody else."
"And see the current account deficit. The price of crude was $28 at one point in time. When it was $145, we were not selling petrol at Rs 86 per litre," he added.
Asked if the opposition has got its act together now to take on the BJP, Sibal said: "What is the opposition ultimately? It is the people who oppose. Political parties are only vehicles."
The former Union minister said the electoral battle has to be fought at various levels and the BJP's performance in 2014 in states such as Uttar Pradesh was due to division of opposition votes.
"Don't attribute this to some great Modi effect. It is lack of our ability to get together to put up a united front and that is what is going to happen in the Lok Sabha election," Sibal maintained.
Answering a question about "faultlines" in the UPA government that he mentioned in the book, Sibal noted: "I said we could not manage the perception game. And there was a silent conspiracy at work which we could not gauge. So we were perceived to be weak. I have said all that," he pointed out.
Asked who were behind the conspiracy, Sibal said the stakeholders in the system had conspired together to create a sense of distrust against the then government.
"There were a lot of stakeholders. BJP was one of them. After all, how did Ramdev come? That Ramlila Maidan, lakhs of people being fed, who brought them, who was spending the money? Then this whole India Against Corruption campaign" he said, adding that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) hand was at play.
He said the Lokpal was at the centre of the campaign and noted that nobody talks about it now. "They were not honest about it. This was not a genuine demand. Obviously, there was some conspiracy at work."
He said the UPA did not perhaps gauge the gravity of forces of disruption against it. He said Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had been accusing the UPA government of policy paralysis but it gave them a historic growth of 8.2 per cent for 10 years.
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BAMUL president slams Flipkart over selling milk for Re 1 per litre
Bengaluru (PTI): Bangalore Milk Union Ltd president D K Suresh on Saturday claimed that e-commerce giant Flipkart is selling milk for Re 1 through "investor-funded discount campaigns", accusing it of undermining the dignity of farmers and the cooperative movement built over decades.
He has lodged a complaint against Flipkart before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and also written an email to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking investigation into "predatory pricing" of milk by the quick commerce platform and its impact on dairy farmers and cooperative institutions.
However, Flipkart said in a statement that it periodically runs limited promotional campaigns on select products available on the platform, often in partnership with banking partners, to enhance customer value.
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"Prices of products on the Flipkart marketplace are determined by individual sellers. All dairy partners and sellers continue to receive their full agreed price for the products they supply, and farmer procurement prices are not impacted in any way," a Flipkart spokesperson said.
Flipkart further said it remains committed to working with farmers, cooperatives and sellers across India to expand market access and support their growth.
Suresh, brother of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and also a former MP, slammed Flipkart for its latest move.
Taking to social media platform 'X', the Bangalore Milk Union Ltd (BAMUL) president said that milk is not a Re 1 flash deal. It is the livelihood of millions of farmers.
"Behind every litre of milk is the sweat, labour, and livelihood of our farmers. Predatory discounting by companies like Flipkart weakens India's dairy cooperatives and hurts farmer incomes," he said.
He urged both the central and the state governments to act immediately to protect the farmers and the cooperative movement.
In another post, Suresh said that milk is not a marketing gimmick. It is the livelihood of millions of dairy farmers who work every day to feed this nation.
"Flipkart is selling milk for Re 1 through investor-funded discount campaigns and is undermining the dignity of farmers and the cooperative movement built over decades," he added, urging public to choose farmers, cooperatives and Nandini, a dairy brand owned by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
Speaking to reporters here earlier in the day, he said that a complaint would be lodged against Flipkart before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) under Section 19(1)(a) over the company's move to sell one litre of milk for Re 1.
He alleged that such competition aimed at capturing the market would hit farmers hard.
"Around Rs 2,000 crore has reportedly been spent on this initiative. It is not appropriate to misuse public shareholders' money in this manner," he said.
According to him, the move could undermine long-standing milk cooperative institutions that have existed since the pre-Independence period.
"Multinational companies are working against farmers' interests. They should clearly state in their advertisements how long they will sell milk at such low prices. Flipkart must withdraw from this move that harms the farming community," he added.
Suresh claimed that 14.5 lakh litres of milk had already been sold under the scheme and advertisements had been issued widely.
"Public money is being invested to attract customers. The company should disclose how long it plans to sell milk at this price," he said.
Responding to a question on whether the sales of Nandini milk had dropped, he said several brands operate in the market and not just Nandini.
"BAMUL's sales have dropped by about 40,000-50,000 litres. We need to ascertain how long this decline has continued," he said.
Asked if other entities were behind the scheme, he said information was still being gathered. "I have seen a couple of advertisements and will also discuss the matter with officials. Under the guise of business, it is not right to ignite a crisis for the farming community," he said.
Suresh said farmers are currently paid Rs 38-40 per litre for milk. "How can they sell it for Re 1? "We need to find out from whom they are purchasing the milk and where it is coming from," he said.
When asked whether farmers should be advised not to sell milk to such companies, Suresh said it was not clear where the company was procuring milk from, including bulk producers.
"We are also checking whether milk powder is being mixed. I have asked for samples and instructed that they be tested in laboratories. If cooperative institutions collapse, the direct impact will be on farmers," he added.
