Congress MP Sunil Jakhar, who moved an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha over Rafael Deal on Thursday, wore a yellow vest to express solidarity with workers of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The opposition parties including the Congress, have been questioning Anil Ambani's Reliance defence as the choice of the offset partner, despite having no experience in the airspace sector.
Notably, the Rafael deal was signed between India and France under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government in 2012. During that time, India planned to buy 18 off-the-shelf jets from France's Dassault Aviation along with 108 others that were supposed to be assembled by the state-run HAL in Bengaluru. However, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to the Centre, India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of Indian Air Force equipment. The estimated cost of the deal is Rs 58,000 crore.
Since then, the Congress-led opposition has been slamming the Central government over Make in India initiative alleging crony capitalism in procuring the Rafael deal agreement.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after various key issues, including the Rafael deal, Cauvery river water, construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya were raised by the Opposition.