Shekhar Gupta: Modi's slipping on the Rafale slope

All the Modi govt needed to do was come clean on Rafale - we dismissed bureaucratic objections as we wanted deal done quickly for IAF

The latest expose on Rafale in The Hindu by N Ram, and subsequent disclosures by the government in its defence, have helped greatly to take the debate forward. The net impact, at this juncture, is what has been clear about the Rafale deal — that it’s a self-inflicted scam of arrogance and stupidity — and it is now confirmed. What was murky, however, gets murkier.

Here is what we now have clarity on:

• The defence ministry bureaucracy under Manohar Parrikar was uneasy or insecure about how they thought the negotiation was being railroaded. They put their objections on record.

• The objections were over-ruled