HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Oct 6: More than six thousands leaders and workers of the Congress party Saturday took out “Raj Bhawan gherao” programme from Latasil Playground here to Raj Bhawan demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe into Rafale deal.
Led by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and Rajya Sabha member Ripun Bora and opposition leader in the Assam Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia, the protesters started the march from Latasil playground displaying their disagreement with the Union government over Rafale deal.
The protesters also submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind through Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi demanding a JPC investigation into the alleged Rafale deal.
The memorandum urged that as the head of the state the President should immediately intervene into the matter and affix the role and responsibility of the prime minister and all other public and private persons involved in the alleged Rafale deal scam.
It also demanded to control the skyrocketing prices of petrol, diesel, LPG cylinder and other essential commodities. The memorandum also demanded to make available kerosene oil to the common people at reasonable prices.
The party also accused the Modi government of concealing information regarding the price of the fighter planes.
“The government should explain the inflated cost and who is going to benefit by it,” APCC president Ripun Bora said.
“The offset contract which is part of the Rafale purchase deal was taken away from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under pressure,” Borah alleged.
He claimed former France president Francois Hollande’s comments bolstered the party’s allegations about the Rafale deal.
“Hollande has said that the Indian government suggested the name (of Reliance Defence) to partner Dassault to manufacture Rafale planes,” he said.
He gurther alleged that there was no transparency in the Rafale deal and crucial information was being suppressed.
“The UPA government had finalised the deal for the purchase of each aircraft for Rs 526 crore, while in 2016 the deal was renegotiated and the price was Rs 1,670 crore. HAL, which has decades of experience of manufacturing was replaced as offset partner of Dassault Aviation for local production of Rafale components by Reliance Defence which had no experience,” he further said.
The memorandum also claimed that two days before the Rafale deal was signed, Reliance Entertainment (a division of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) financed a film co-produced by Hollande’s partner, Julie Gayet.
It may also be mentioned that the Congress on Thursday urged the CAG to carry out a forensic audit of the “Rs 60,150 crore” Rafale fighter jet deal and bring all “facts” on record to enable Parliament to fix accountability for the alleged scam in the contract.
A delegation of Congress leaders met the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Rajiv Mehrishi. This has been the second visit by the Congress party in a month and presented a memorandum to Auditor General along with the fresh documents.
