The Congress reiterated its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee as it levelled fresh charges against the Modi government over the Rafale deal.
New Delhi: The Congress Friday raked up the issue of Rafale jet deal, accusing the government of compromising national security and paying more for the combat aircraft.
Addressing a press conference here, senior party leader P Chidambaram alleged that the government has “wronged” the country in two ways — it compromised national security and paid Rs 186 crore more per plane.
“There is no doubt any longer that Rafale aircraft deal deserves to be examined thoroughly by a joint parliamentary committee. Congress reiterates its demand for constitution of a JPC,” he said, citing a newspaper report that claimed the Modi government’s decision to buy 36 jets, instead of 126 planned earlier, jack up the price of each aircraft.
He alleged that the “windfall” to French firm Dassault Aviation was a “deliberate decision” and is highly questionable.
Also read: Hindu’s N Ram finds Rafale deal ‘eerily’ like Bofors, but no money trail
It is very amusing. The alleged loss per plane has come down from Rs.1000 crore ( Rs. 1600 crore versus Rs.600 crore) to Rs.186 crore. The UPA deal price then is not Rs.600 crore, but Rs. 1414 crore ( 1600-186). For the contracted price of Rs.1600 crore per plane, the alleged loss comes to just to 12% . Again to enjoy this price differential, the country was required to pay 1414×126=Rs.1.78 lakh crore for 126 planes. Could the country have afforded it?