Rafale deal: Nirmala denies scam charges

There was no scam in the four-year old NDA government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and therefore the Congress was coming up with such allegations, she told reporters here.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi had been taking frequent potshots over the Modi government on the defence deal, alleging escalation of costs over that when UPA was in power. Opposition party has been demanding specific details in this regard.

Drawing the analogy of a car, Sitharaman said the same brand could cost a person more if the buyer wanted additional accessories and equipment fitted into it.

“These are accessories, additional fittings, he just says disclose the price. If it is done so, it will reveal what kind of technology and equipment determined the price of the aircraft,” she said. “Ordinary citizens may not be bothered about it, but forces inimical to us, countries, would have realised the extent of the (capabilities of) Rafale.

So will that be our strength or weakness?” she asked.

The Defence Minister said any disclosure by her in this regard may “satisfy” Gandhi “but also our rivals.” To a question on BJP’s charge that Congress was backing Maoist elements, Sitharaman said the “party, very definitely, even at the level of their President, never hesitated to associate itself with those fringe groups of the Communists, Marxists and Leninists.”