NEW DELHI, Nov 13 - The political row over the Rafale jet deal escalated on Tuesday with the Dassault CEO claiming that there was no wrongdoing, and Congress dismissing his claims as �manufactured lies�, even as party chief Rahul Gandhi fired a fresh salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Party leaders Randeep Surjewala and Anand Sharma joined Gandhi in accusing the government of a �cover-up�.
The nation needs a �fair investigation� and not �doctored explanations� on the fighter jet deal, Congress chief spokesperson Surjewala said.
He was responding to Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier�s defence of the contract in a media interview. Trappier has claimed no wrongdoing in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, asserting it was a �clean deal�.
Trappier also claimed his company chose Reliance as an offset partner.
�Dictated interviews and manufactured lies cannot cover up corruption in the Rafale deal. The first rule of law is mutual beneficiaries and the co-accused�s statements hold no value. The second rule is beneficiaries and accused cannot be a judge in their own case. Truth has a way of coming out. Mr Modi, the nation does not want doctored explanations,� Surjewala said.
�The fixed match between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Dassault Aviation will not hide the scam. The PR stunt that Eric Trappier and the Prime Minister Modi are doing will not cover up the layers of corruption in the Rafale deal,� he alleged.
French aerospace major Dassault Aviation has partnered with Reliance Defence Ltd for delivering 36 Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The Centre on Monday disclosed to the Supreme Court the pricing details for the 36 Rafale jets that were negotiated on �better terms� and said it �completely followed� the Defence Procurement Procedure laid out in 2013 and secured the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval before the deal that has whipped up a political storm was inked with France.
Hitting back at Rahul, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the Congress president�s failed politics is compelling him to resort to �falsehood� and �petty hair-splitting� to make the sensitive Rafale purchase defence deal controversial.
Jaitley also said that it was the Congress-led UPA which delayed the purchase of the aircraft, which was necessary to improve the combat ability of IAF. In a series of tweets, Jaitley said �falsehood� cannot be a substitute for �failed politics� of Gandhi.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also told this news agency that Trappier�s interview have particularly exposed the lie about the company�s offset obligation.