Shah seeks Rahul's apology on Rafale allegations, Congress chief sticks to his guns

BJP president Amit Shah Friday seized on the Supreme Court's verdict dismissing petitions seeking a probe into the Rafale deal to seek apology from Rahul Gandhi but an unimpressed Congress chief maintained that there was massive corruption in the contract.

Accusing Gandhi of misleading people and endangering national security with his allegations about the Rs 58,000 crore deal, Shah said the verdict was a slap on the face of those who levelled such charges.

In his counter-offensive, Gandhi said the CAG report "cited by the Supreme Court" to arrive at its order was not yet been shared with the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament and reiterated his "chowkidar chor hai" (watchman is thief) against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

"Chowkidar chor hai, and we will prove it," he claimed.

Shah likened Gandhi's allegations against Modi to throwing mud at the Sun, saying it cannot dim its fire and the mud falls on those who throw it.

Top ruling party leaders, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, also joined the issue, even as BSP supremo Mayawati, often a bitter critic of the BJP, said the apex court's order will definitely give some respite to the central government.

In a statement, Mayawati also called for fundamental reforms in all defence related procurement to address doubts about them.

In relief to the Modi government, the Supreme Court Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision making process" warranting setting aside of the contract.

Sitharaman, who addressed a press conference along with Jaitley, said the controversy over the Rafale deal has been laid to rest through the apex court's order.

Jaitley said the Rafale deal has protected both security and commercial interests of India and allegations targeting it were "fiction writing" that compromised national security.

To a question about the Congress demand of Joint parliamentary Probe (JPC) into the deal, he said only judicial body can carry out such an investigation as there has been experience in the past of JPCs working on partisan lines.

The SC verdict is conclusive and leaves no scope of any doubt on the deal, he said.

Soon after the verdict, Shah termed it as a victory of truth and launched a scathing attack on Gandhi.

"The Congress has been levelling allegations about this and the order is a slap on the face of those who have levelled these charges," he asserted.

Never before in independent India was such an attempt made to mislead people on the basis of "blatant lies", he said, accusing Gandhi of starting a "politics of lies" for his momentary political gains.

"The judgement is a slap on such a politics of lies," Shah said, demanding that his Congress counterpart tender an apology to people and the armed forces.

In his brief press conference later in the day, Gandhi also reiterated the Congress' demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fighter jet deal and claimed that if it was conducted, names of Modi and businessman Anil Ambani will come to the fore.

Questioning as to why the CAG report "cited by the Supreme Court" in its order had not yet been shared with the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, he asked, "Where has that report gone? Is it with some other PAC that PM Modi has set up in the PMO (Prime Minister's Office)?".

He also accused the Modi government of destroying "all institutions" and asserted that corruption to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore has taken place in the Rafale deal under its watch.

Shah challenged the opposition party for a debate on the deal in Parliament and said the BJP will agree to as much time as it wants for a discussion after it reiterated its demand for a JPC probe into the matter.

The political slugfest following the court's order echoed in Parliament as well as Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the Lok Sabha accused Gandhi of misleading the country for political gains and said he should apologise on the floor of the House.

Congress members continued with their protests and demanded a JPC probe as he spoke.

The CPI also sought a JPC probe, saying Parliament is supreme in democracy.

Jaitley, though, virtually ruled it out, saying the Supreme Court verdict is conclusive and that the JPA has a history of splitting on partisan lines.