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Rafale deal: Latest expose puts Modi govt in dock again; Def Min’s reply raises more questions

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Rafale deal

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lampooned Congress leadership on defence deals, alleging they wanted the Rafale deal scrapped as they did not want Indian Air Force to be strong, the issue blew up in his face once again.

A report in The Hindu today (Friday, Feb 8) said the defence ministry had objected to “parallel negotiations” being carried out by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with the French government for purchase of the fighter aircraft.

This provided fresh ammunition for Congress president Rahul Gandhi to launch a fresh attack on the government. Reiterating the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ barb, he said the PMO was directly involved in negotiations with the French on the Rafale deal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was guilty in the scam.

It is an open and shut case, Gandhi declared. “With the media report today it is black and white that the PM himself was carrying out parallel negotiations with the French. We have been saying there should be a JPC, an inquiry.” Gandhi said. at a press briefing at AICC headquarters in New Delhi.

Addressing the “young men and the armed forces” of the country, Gandhi said, “This is about your future. You are the defenders, protectors. You die for us. It is clear that the PM has bypassed the process. It is an open and shut case.”

Continuing his demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe in the deal, Gandhi said, “You can investigate any of our members. Launch a probe against Robert Vadra, P Chidambaram or anyone in the party. No problem. But investigate Rafale deal.”

The issue rocked the Parliament. The Opposition claimed the new expose indicted the Prime Minister. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge revived the party’s demand for a JPC probe into the Rafale Deal.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dubbed the report by The Hindu as misleading and attacked the Congress-led Opposition for “flogging a dead horse”. Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha that The Hindu report does not mention the then defence minister’s response and went on to quote its “full contents”.

“Then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar ji replied to that MoD note that remain calm, nothing to worry, everything is going alright (sic),” Sitharaman said.

The Hindu newspaper had reproduced documents showing file notings made by then Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar calling the attention of then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar stating that “it is desirable that such discussions be avoided by the PMO as it undermines our negotiation process seriously.”

Kumar’s noting was on an observation made in the document, signed by then deputy secretary SK Sharma, which said: “such parallel discussions by the PMO has weakened the negotiation position of the MoD (Ministry of Defence) and Indian Negotiating Team (constituted by the MoD to negotiate the Rafale Deal with the French). We may advise PMO that any officers who are not part of Indian Negotiating Team may refrain from having parallel parleys with officers of the French Government. In case the PMO is not confident about the outcome of negotiations being carried out by the MoD, a revised modality of negotiations to be led by PMO at appropriate level may be adopted in the case.”

In notings made against Kumar’s comment, Parrikar responded: “It appears that PMO and French President’s Office are monitoring the progress of the issue which was an outcome of the summit meeting. Para 5 (about parallel discussions, reproduced above) appears to be an overreaction. Defence secretary may resolve issue/matter in consultation with the principal secretary to PM.”

Sitharaman, however, ended up strengthening the notion that there was indeed something fishy about the negotiations which ended with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence elbowing out the Indian government’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as the offset partner of Dassault Aviation in the jet purchase deal.

The MoD note raises crucial questions of propriety, and more significantly, over the likely possibility of the Modi government having misled the Supreme Court when it was hearing petitions demanding investigations into the Rafale Deal.

The Supreme Court’s verdict that rejected demands for a probe into the Rafale Deal was largely based on two premises – first, that an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General into the deal had found nothing wrong and second, a confidential reply by the Centre, submitted to the court in a sealed cover, which purportedly said that the PMO had no role in the negotiations with the French government on the final blueprint of the Rafale Deal.

Soon after the top court’s verdict, it transpired that the CAG had not prepared any report on the Rafale Deal and was, in fact, still in the process of preparing its draft report. Now, with the latest expose, it comes to light that not only was the PMO actively involved in the Rafale discussions with the French government but that these “parallel parleys” had been objected to by a section of officers in the Defence ministry.

These two points now show that the Modi government, to put it very mildly, misled the Supreme Court on the two key issues over which a probe into the Rafale Deal was averted. It remains to be seen if the top court will be open to revisiting its verdict in the Rafale case when petitions seeking a review of its judgment are heard and if it would haul up the Modi government for apparent contempt of court, if not abject perjury.

News agency ANI tweeted the full note of the defence ministry consisting of Parrikar’s reply to his officers.

Meanwhile, Kumar, who was the defence secretary then, has been quoted by ANI as stating that the dissent note of the MoD on Rafale negotiations had nothing to do with price. It was about sovereign guarantees and general terms and conditions, he told news agency ANI.

On September 27, 2016, The Indian Express had also reported about a Defence Ministry official who raised questions about the deal’s benchmark price and put his objections on record.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Hardeep Singh Puri says Sunita Kejriwal is preparing to hold Delhi CM post like Rabri Devi

The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office along with leaders including Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva and Bansuri Swaraj.

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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday compared Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, hinting that she may be gearing up to take on her husband’s post. The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office.

The BJP leader further took a dig at Delhi Chief Minister for forming an alliance with the most corrupt party against whom they had started an anti-corruption movement with social activist Anna Hazare. The minister made the statement in response to a question regarding Sunita Kejriwal, who earlier today launched a whatsapp campaign advocating for support for her husband, who is in ED custody in connection with the Excise policy case.

In a video Sunita Kejriwal said her husband has challenged the most corrupt and dictatorial forces in the country and asked people to support her husband through their prayers and blessings. She issued 2 WhatsApp numbers 8297324624 and 9700297002 through which people can send their blessings, prayers or any other messages to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and she will communicate those to him.

She said yesterday Kejriwal had presented his side in the court, and the entire country heard it. She requested the people to listen to it if they had not listened till now. She added whatever Kejriwal had said in front of the court required a lot of courage. She said her husband is a true patriot. She requested the people to participate in the Kejriwal ko Aashirwad campaign.

BJP leader Manoj Tiwari also took a dig at Aam Aami Party asking why only Kejriwal’s wife is coming out in his support, and not the people of Delhi. He said the Honorable Justice of High Court said they cannot stop Arvind Kejriwals’ arrest that they are surprised why he hasn’t been arrested yet?

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Lok Sabha elections: INDIA bloc in Bihar seals seat-sharing deal, Congress get 9 seats, RJD 26

Purnea and Katihar, currently held by the Janata Dal (United), had emerged as the sticking point in seat-sharing talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

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The Opposition INDIA bloc sealed the seat-sharing deal in Bihar for 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Mahagathbandhan’s largest constituent, RJD will field its candidates from 26 seats, including Purnea and Hajipur, while the Congress will contest on nine seats, including Kishanganj and Patna Sahib. Meanwhile, the Left will fight on five seats.

Purnea and Katihar, currently held by the Janata Dal (United), had emerged as the sticking point in seat-sharing talks between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

Reportedly, the Congress has been made to give up the Purnea Lok Sabha seat, which recent entrant Pappu Yadav, husband of Rajya Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan, was hoping to contest, mentioning that he had received assurance of Congress ticket from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

The seat will be contested by RJD, which recently gave the party ticket to JD(U) turncoat Bima Bharti, but stopped short of announcing it formally. The INDIA bloc seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over. The RJD has fielded its candidates in all four seats going to elections in the first phase.

Earlier, Tejashwi Yadav attended an INDIA bloc meeting regarding Bihar’s seat-sharing formula at Congress leader Mukul Wasnik’s residence and said that the RJD, the Congress and the Left will fight the Lok Sabha elections together in Bihar. He added that the INDIA bloc partners have agreed verbally on the seat-sharing arrangement and all the constituents are getting a respectable deal. Tejashwi Yadav’s remarks came amid reports of disquiet in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance in Bihar over seat sharing.

In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the National Democratic Alliance, including the BJP, JD(U) and LJP won 39 seats. The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled for April 19.

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Tax terrorism has to stop, says Congress after Income Tax Department issues fresh Rs 1,700 crore notice

The Congress has accused the BJP of squeezing it financially and of using tax authorities against it ahead of Lok Sabha elections beginning April 19.

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Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Congress’ financial woes worsened once again with the Income Tax Department issuing a fresh Rs 1,700 crore notice. The tax department issued the notice due to discrepancies in tax returns. 

The fresh notice is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest. This comes a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed the party’s petition challenging the tax notices. 

The opposition party is already facing a funds crunch after Income Tax authorities imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore and froze its funds. Furthermore, the party has not received any relief from the High Court in the case and is likely to approach the Supreme Court. The Congress has accused the BJP of squeezing it financially and of using tax authorities against it ahead of Lok Sabha elections beginning April 19.

Addressing a press conference, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the notices are being sent to cripple the party financially. Calling the action as tax terrorism, Jairam Ramesh said that this attack on Congress has to stop.

Earlier in February, the Income Tax department had found fault in the party’s tax returns and demanded Rs 200 crore. Subsequently, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) had asked the party to pay the dues and froze their accounts. The Congress stated the tax tribunal’s order freezing its funds was an attack on democracy as the order came just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal stated that this is a deliberate attempt by the Narendra Modi-led to bankrupt the Congress ahead of elections. He mentioned that the timing of the penalty notice, following the Delhi High Court’s dismissal of Congress petitions challenging tax reassessment proceedings, reeks of political vendetta.

He underlined that while political parties are typically exempt from taxes, this penalty is allegedly due to delayed filing of returns. He asserted that it is a blatant move by the Modi government to cripple the Congress financially, especially during the elections. He further asserted that in response to the notice, the Congress plans to stage a nationwide protest, condemning BJP’s exploitation of central agencies to target opposition parties. 

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