Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed his views on the Rafale deal controversy that escalated after former French President Francois Hollande's comment, saying the truth can't have two versions. "A controversy is sought to be created on the basis of a statement made by the former French President Hollande, that the Reliance Defence 'partnership' with Dassault Aviation was entered at the suggestion of the Indian Government. In a subsequent statement the former President has sought to suggest that Reliance Defence emerged on the scene after the agreement with the Indian Government was entered into. He has, in a subsequent statement, said that he is 'not aware' if Government ever lobbied for Reliance Defence and that 'the partners chose themselves'. Truth cannot have two versions," Mr Jaitley wrote in a blog post today.
On Friday, French journal Mediapart quoted Francois Hollande as saying: "We did not have a say in this... the Indian government proposed this service group and Dassault negotiated with (Anil) Ambani group. We did not have a choice; we took the partner who was given to us."
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said in a blistering attack, saying PM Modi is silent on the controversy even as the former French president called PM Modi a thief.
Dismissing Rahul Gandhi's allegations, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that there was pressure for extraneous considerations and "bribe" for not finalising the Rafale deal during the UPA rule.
Here are the Highlights on Rafale deal controversy:
Blog Min @arunjaitley has got it wrong again.Rafale Deal was finalised between @narendramodi & @fhollande .Bit convoluted by even Mr. Jaitley's usually stretched logic that @fholande would cut his nose to spite his face when he said that GOI presented it with a fait accompli
- Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) September 23, 2018
