Rafale deal: Rahul Gandhi alleges Nirmala Sitharaman is lying; dares Defence Minister for 15 min debate

In the Rafale deal row, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has again attacked the Defence Minister, leveling allegations that ‘Nirmala Sitharaman is lying,’ and Gandhi demanded for another debate in Parliament.

After Defence Minister presented the evidence of HAL contracts under which the defence company is working, Rahul Gandhi again mentioned today about the Rs 1 lakh crore statement as said by the Defenec Minister in the Parliament.

Gandhi said, “Today Nirmal Sitharaman lied in parliament.I'm again requesting the Defence minister and PM Modi to answer "did Air Force and Defence ministry senior officers object to your interference in Rafael deal?" Please answer in a "Yes or No.”

Congress president further said, “Defence Minister had earlier said that Rs 1 lakh crore were given to HAL, we challenged that ,and today she said that Rs 26,570.80 crore were given to HAL, Nirmala Sitharaman Ji lied in the Parliament.”

Earlier, taking on Congress President Rahul Gandhi's challenge, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said doubts were raised about her Parliament statement that "incorrect" and "misleading.”

Rahul Gandhi has led his attack on the defence ministry, since a report published in The Times of India said that HAL is still awaiting for any such contracts of Rs 1 lakh crore and that the defence company is under debt and took loans of worth Rs 1000 crore to pay the salary of the employees.

Now, Rahul Gandhi has again demanded for a debate for only 15 minutes and has raised doubts over the deal, even after a clean chit by the Supreme Court to the Narendra Modi led BJP government.

Also read: Rafale deal row: Rahul Gandhi challenges Nirmala Sitharaman to prove orders for HAL or resign