BJP accuses previous Congress-led govt of irregularities in Rafale jets deal
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday accused the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of irregularities in the Rafale fighter jets deal, citing a French online journal’s report, and triggered a fresh war of words between the governing and the opposition party.
Mediapart, the journal, on Sunday published alleged fake invoices for payments between 2004-2013 claiming they enabled French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation to pay at least €7.5 million in kickbacks to a middleman to help it secure the deal. The UPA was in power then and the deal referred to is the original one signed by the previous government with Dassault.
“The documents say Dassault, which was been described as D, paid €7.5 million or ₹65 crore as a commission to a middleman for 36 Rafale aircraft. This happened during 2007-12,” said BJP spokesman Sambit Patra. He referred the alleged middleman in the deal, Sushen Gupta, and added he was also involved in the AugustaWestland deal for VVIP choppers. “It is too much of a coincidence and too much of a coincidence is a conspiracy.”
Patra lashed out at Congress for “misleading” the country ahead of the 2019 national elections by insinuating the BJP was responsible for irregularities in the deal. “INC (Indian National Congress) stands for I need commission…During the UPA tenure, there was a deal within every deal.”
Congress spokesman Pawan Khera hit back saying an “operation cover-up” by the government was on to bury the corruption, kickback, and collusion in the deal. He called the “Rafale scam” the biggest in the history of free India. Khera added Mediapart has revealed a “dubious nexus” between the government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Mediapart claimed that despite being made aware of the existence of documents in 2018, when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was in power, Indian agencies decided against pursuing the case. It added it involves offshore companies, dubious contracts, and false invoices. Mediapart said detectives from the CBI, and ED have had proof since October 2018 that Dassault paid commissions to Gupta.
Khera criticised the dropping of the anti-corruption clauses in the deal. He accused the government of undermining national security, jeopardising the interest of armed forces, and causing a huge loss to the exchequer. Khera questioned why was there no investigation against Gupta.
Patra said Congress and Rahul Gandhi, in particular, should clarify the alleged irregularities when UPA was in power. “For 10 years, the IAF (Indian Air Force) was deprived of fighter aircraft. There were negotiations without conclusion…now we know the negotiation was about the commission, not the aircraft.”
The UPA deal struck in 2012 was not a viable one, the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar maintained, implying that it would have never been closed and that, therefore, any comparison with the current deal was moot. The UPA was not able to close the deal till 2014, largely over discussions related to the pricing of items not included in the initial bid.
Patra referred to the Supreme Court’s 2019 verdict saying it saw nothing wrong in the current deal and the government’s auditor Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s conclusion the same year that India had not overpaid for the jets.
Patra said if Congress feels the BJP government is not investigating the scams, then it should go to court. “(It should) ask why (the government) is not carrying out investigations against the Gandhi family…,” he said in response to a question on why the investigation was not being carried out. “…They are trying to tease us and whenever investigations were carried out, they screamed vendetta.”
On inaction related to Gupta, Patra said he does not know the details of the investigation being carried out. He added he has gleaned through media reports that Gupta has been under the ED’s probe.