BJP calls Rahul pathological liar hitting back on Rafale row

The Hindu report on Friday stated the Defence Ministry had protested against PMO's separate parleys with the French government over the deal of buying of 36 fighters jets from France by India.

The report said the Defence Ministry had objected to PMO's parallel talks with the French government.

Countering Rahul's "chowkidar chor hai" jibe, the BJP on Saturday alleged that the Hindu and the Congress chief furnished the document by cropping, probably leaving out then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement.

The BJP's tweet reads, "If #LiarRahul and his partner in crime, The Hindu, really had faith in their 'discovery' they should've ideally wanted to approach Hon’ble SC with these 'discoveries'. But they know they won't stand a chance. Even now, we challenge liar to approach SC with his new 'evidence'."

Calling the Congress president a "pathological liar", the BJP tweeted, "We have tried to document most of Rahul Gandhi’s #RafaleLies. But given his superhuman capabilities of lying, we realized it's humanly impossible to document it all. We hence invite you to tweet with #LiarRahul and further this cause of exposing the pathological liar!"

Defence Ministry's objection:

The Defence Ministry's objection has been quoted by The Hindu, "We may advise PMO that any Officers who are not part of Indian Negotiating Team may refrain from having parallel parlays [parleys] with the officers of French Government....in case the PMO is not confident about the outcome of negotiations being carried out by the MoD, a revised modality of negotiations to be led by PMO at appropriate level may be adopted in the case.”

Stating PMO's parallel talks had "weakened the negotiating position of MoD and Indian Negotiating Team," a Defence Ministry brought a note to then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's notice. 

However, former defence secretary G Mohan Kumar on Friday said the report over the Ministry of Defence objecting in 2015 to the PMO's "parallel negotiations" with France on the Rafale defence deal had "nothing to do with pricing", reported ANI. G Mohan Reddy was the defence secretary during the time of Rafale negotiations in 2015-2017.
"It (MoD dissent note on Rafale negotiations) had nothing to do with price. It was about sovereign guarantees and general terms and conditions," Kumar, reacting to the report told ANI.

Rahul Gandhi blasts Modi:

Reacting to the development, Rahul said: "For more than a year, we've been saying that PM is directly involved in Rafale scam. Today it is clear that PM himself had been carrying out a parallel negotiation."

The Congress chief also urged the Modi government to probe into cases not only related to any Congress leader but also the Rafale.

"It is clear that Modi is a thief and he has stolen people's Rs. 30,000 crore and gave it to Anil Ambani," he added.

Nirmala Sitharaman reacts:

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Congress is flogging a dead horse.

"The Rafale deal was fully discussed in the house," Sitharaman said while she was speaking in the parliament.

Hurling attack on the Congress, she accused the opposition party of playing a corporate warfare. 

No mention of PMO in Supreme Court:

In the Supreme Court, however, the government had stated a seven-member team headed by the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff conducted the negotiations but did not mention PMO's intervention.

Giving a verdict in favour of the BJP government, the top court had stated due process in singing the deal was followed.

Francois Hollande's claim:

Congress took the matter to the centre stage after former French President Francois Hollande said the India government proposed Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence as the India partner for the 36 Rafale jets deal.