New Delhi: The Congress and the BJP had a bitter face-off in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday during a debate over the Rafale deal.
The Congress, in the Lok Sabha, attempted to release a purported audio clip of a Goa minister on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's alleged claim of a file on Rafale deal "lying in his bedroom".
The House witnessed high drama after Congress chief Gandhi sought the Speaker's permission to play the unverified audio tape purportedly of the minister Vishwajit Rane telling an unidentified person regarding the alleged claim by Parrikar at a Cabinet meeting last week.
Amid an uproar, which caused brief adjournment of the House proceedings, Gandhi said he would not play it and authenticate it.
To this, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley whipped out a dialogue from a James Bond film to accuse Gandhi of peddling "lies" and "falsehood" in the Lok Sabha. Jaitley said, "There are some people who have a natural dislike for truth. Every word spoken for the last six months on this subject, including in this House (by them) are false....He has a legacy of speaking falsehood."
In his 20-minute speech in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi posed some direct questions to the Prime Minister – when was the contract changed from 126 to 36 aircraft, did the PM do so unilaterally or after consulting the Air Force chief, why was the price hiked from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,600 crore, was the hike in price not objected to by defence ministry officials, why was contract snatched from an experienced entity like the HAL and given to Anil Ambani at a loss.
Paper planes were also flown in the House when Arun Jaitley was in the middle of a heated speech regarding the Rafale debate. He was in the middle of countering allegations previously leveled by Rahul Gandhi when Congress MP Sushmita Dev, along with other leaders, flew paper planes at Jaitley.
Later in the day, Rahul Gandhi addressed the media and launched a blistering attack on the government. Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said that he "does not have guts" to face questions in Parliament. He also alleged that Parrikar is "blackmailing" the prime minister.
The Congress also demanded answers from PM Modi on Parrikar's purported claim and asked if this was the reason why a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe was not being ordered.
Defending himself, Parrikar termed the audio clip as a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after the Supreme Court exposed the "lies" of the opposition party.
No such discussion as cited in the audio clip ever came up during the Cabinet or any other meeting, said Parrikar, who was the defence minister when India and France signed a deal for the purchase of fighter aircraft from France.
Rane also termed the audio clip as "doctored" and fake and demanded a probe.
"What Parrikar is essentially doing is threatening the Prime Minister and blackmailing him in a way," Gandhi alleged. "We have been raising this for a long time. Question is what information is there in Parrikar's bedroom and what files are there and what could be the impact on Narendra Modi."
As the war of words intensified in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said the tape is "false and fabricated", asking the Congress president if he can authenticate it. He also asserted that Gandhi may have to face privilege motion and even expulsion in case the tape turns out to be fabricated.
Retaliating to Gandhi's scathing attack on the government, Jaitley launched a counter-offensive as he referred to alleged defence scams during the Congress rule and said "conspirators" of past defence scams had the "audacity" to target the Modi dispensation.
He also ruled out a JPC probe - a demand made by most opposition leaders, including Gandhi- saying there was no need for it as the Supreme Court has already satisfied its "conscience" on the issue.
Targeting Gandhi, the BJP leader said he would have played in the lap of 'Q', an apparent reference to Ottavio Quattrocchi- allegedly involved in the Bofors case.
In his speech, Gandhi referred to Modi's comments in an interview telecast on Tuesday that no personal allegation was levelled against him in the matter and said this was not true as the "entire nation" is asking him a direct question on the contract for purchase of fighter aircraft.
"He spoke for 90 minutes in a staged interview but still did not answer questions on the Rafale issue... He does not have the guts to come to Parliament and confront questions (on Rafale) and hides in his room."
"We demand a JPC probe into matter. There is no reason for BJP leaders to feel afraid. The country will get to know that Modi put Rs 30,000 crore in the pockets of 'double A'. The contract was snatched from HAL (a government-run unit)," Gandhi said, alleging corruption in the contract.
'Double A' was an apparent reference to Anil Ambani, whom Gandhi repeatedly referred to in his speech before Mahajan asked him not to name him as he is not a member of the House.
Hitting back, Jaitley said: "It is a tragedy that the grand old party which was headed by the legends in the past is now headed by a gentleman who doesn't have basic understanding of combat aircraft."
"I am sure Shri Rahul Gandhi, in his earlier days, was seeing the James Bond films," Jaitley said.
"James Bond has said: If it is once, it's a happenstance, it can happen. If it is twice, it is a coincidence. And if it is thrice, it's a conspiracy -- Congress president is doing the same,"
Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress was quick to take a dig at Jaitley for what he said was wrongly quoting Bond, saying the movie's hero had said that if it happens for the third time, then it is enemy action, and not conspiracy as the senior BJP leader claimed.
"Jaitley is losing his touch and his memory is failing him," Roy said.
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