Truth always triumphs! Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh target Rahul Gandhi, demand apology

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah and Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday targetted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme court dismissed petitions seeking a court-monitored investigation into Rafale deal.

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi-billion dollar deal.

On the issue of offset partner, the bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said there was no substantial evidence of commercial favouritism to any private entity.

Reacting to the development, Home Minister Rajnath Singh demanded in the Lok Sabha that Congress President Rahul Gandhi should apologise on the floor of the House for "misleading" the country on the Rafale jet deal issue.

Amid protests by Congress members in the House, Singh said, "Rahul Gandhi should apologise on the floor of the House for misleading the country on the Rafale jet deal issue for political gains".

Hitting out at Congress chief, Amit Shah said 'truth always triumphs!' "Court's judgment on Rafale deal exposes campaign of misinformation spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi," shah said.

"Rahul Gandhi ji should apologize to the nation for misleading people. Want to ask Rahul ji what was the source of information on basis of which he made such big allegations," Shah said,"

"Truth has won and the people were being misled by unfortunately the country's oldest party. Its a slap on politics of lies," shah added.

However, the Congress said that the top court cannot decide Rafale issue, only a JPC probe can after examining all files and notings. "Government gave SC one-sided, half-baked information on Rafale deal," alleged Surjewala.

In a series of tweets, Surjewala said that the SC verdict is a vindication of their stance on 15/11/2018 that SC is not the forum to decide pricing, process & specifications of Rafale, which are the true layers of ‘corruption’!

"We have always demanded a JPC! Why is Modi Govt running scared? Truth shall prevail!!!," Surjewala tweeted.

Stating that our demand was for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and it still stands, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The main issue is pricing which SC said it did not want to comment as it is not in its jurisdiction. Home Minister is speaking on an incomplete judgement given on a PIL."

Senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the Supreme Court order giving the government a clean chit on the Rafale deal is not a setback as the issue is still live in the "people's court" and the Congress will continue to raise it in Parliament. 

Meanwhile, Reliance chief Anil Ambani has welcomed SC judgment saying it establishes falsity of politically motivated allegations against his firm.

Opposition parties led by the Congress have been attacking the Modi government over the deal, alleging that it was struck at an exorbitant price and benefited an Indian businessman at the cost of the government-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The charges have been denied by the government.