The Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed stormy scenes on the first day of business this year as barbs flew thick across the Treasury and Opposition benches over the Rafale jet deal.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi cited an audio tape, which he alleged was between the Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane and an unidentified man about former defence minister Manohar Parrikar. He said the tape nails the lies of the BJP government.

He wanted to play the tape in the House, but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Union Minister Arun Jaitley told him that the tape cannot be played unless Gandhi authenticates it in writing. Jaitley rubbished Gandhi's allegations and said that Gandhi was "lying and repeating falsehood".

Gandhi attacked the government over three points on the Rafale deal. He said that pricing, process and "paisa patronage" were the three important facets of the case. He asked why were the number of aircraft reduced from 126 to 36, why was the price of the aircraft raised from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,600 crore, and why was HAL bypassed for the offset contract which was given to Anil Ambani's Reliance group. Mahajan asked him to refrain from taking the name of Ambani, after which Gandhi referred him as 'AA'. "There are a number of holes in the Rafale story. The PM does not have the guts to come to Parliament and confront the questions," said Gandhi. Outside the Parliament, Gandhi further dared PM Modi to a one-on-one debate on the Rafale deal for 20 minutes.

The entire Opposition, including the CPIM, TMC, TDP and NCP unitedly trained the guns on the government over the deal, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Even NDA ally Shiv Sena and fence-sitter BJD demanded the same.

Jaitley said that Gandhi's speech is a case of natural dislike of truth. "He has a legacy, manufacturing a conversation between himself and French government. The French government has denied any such conversations. Today, he tries to produce a record and document, which he fails to authenticate because he knows it is manufactured by his party," Jaitley said.

Jaitley said that even the Supreme Court is satisfied with the government's paperwork, and the deal was finalised after 74 meetings between India and France. He added that the deal was 9% cheaper than the UPA's and the weaponised aircrafts were 20% cheaper. He said that during the UPA, the then defence minister AK Antony had nullified the HAL as an offset partner.

TMC MP Saugata Roy said the Rafale deal was like the battle of Mahabharat. He likened PM Modi to Meghnad. "He is attacking from behind the clouds," Roy said. He pointed out that while Reliance was brought on board in April 2015, the Maharashtra government allotted land for it only in 2015, and foundation was laid by union minister Nitin Gadkari in 2017.

BJD MP Kalikesh Singh Deo said that in a parliamentary question in 2015, it was revealed that India needed 42 squadrons, but only 34 were available, and 25 were functional. He said that the HAL contract cancelled by Antony was because the pricing was calculated by "lifestyle cost method".

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant dared the BJP to allow for a JPC. "If you have nothing to hide, then why don't you allow JPC probe," he asked. TDP MP Jayadev Galla spoke about the audio clip and said, "The audio clip contains the voice of Vishwajit Rane, health minister of Goa." The House was adjourned around 5 pm, and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman will now reply on Thursday.

Rafale Row

  • Rahul Gandhi wants to have a debate with PM Modi on Rafale deal for 20 minutes
  • Demands search of Goa CM Manohar Parrikar's house for Rafale documents
  • Congress members threw paper planes in LS when FM Arun Jaitley spoke
  • Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman will now reply on Thursday