Samikhsya Bureau
The spontaneity with which the Bharatiya Janata Party think tank and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley seemed reactive to the article in The Hindu in which veteran journalist N. Ram has given details of omissions in the purchase of the Rafale fighter aircrafts do smack of a reason for panic for the National Democratic Alliance. With the general elections barely months ahead the finance minister and his team may have a reason to douse any such fire, which may tomorrow become a major poll issue for the opposition.
It may be recalled that it was the same newspaper led by the same journalist more than a couple of decades back that had broken the story of Bofors gun deal in which the Congress ruling family was suspected to be a part of the alleged kick-back. After all these years, it was the same journalist who purportedly pursued the case, which was kept in the cold storage.
Jaitley on Friday slammed Ram’s exclusive story on Rafale deal row as ‘fudged arithmetic’ and said there was an attempt to ‘invent’ a scam by ignoring the escalation factor.
Ram has argued that the price of the total deal soared for the supplier when less number of fighter jets were ordered while the client (India) had to face the escalation in cost. When the journalist in his story says that the purchase of 36 jets in stead of total 126 resulted in the escalation in price, let it come within the ambit of a probe rather than foreclosing the entire thing in haste.
“The new article on Rafale is based on fudged arithmetic – ignore the escalation of the 2007 non-deal offer and compare it with the 2016 price and invent a scam,” Jaitley tweeted from New York, where he has gone for a medical check-up
“The Supreme Court has examined the prices. The CAG is examining the same. The fudged arithmetic of a compulsive contrarian can hardly be objective…Fudged arithmetic does not add to the credibility of its creator,” he added.
Jaitley, who also held defence portfolio for two brief spells, said, “The 2007 escalation offer was much larger than 2016 agreed escalation. The price differential would widen with each subsequent supply.”
Earlier in the day, taking cognizance of the article, the defence had ministry termed it “factually inaccurate”.
“The article is factually inaccurate. It does not adduce any new arguments. All the issues have been answered in detail by the government at various fora and most recently by the Raksha Mantri in an open debate in Parliament,” a defence spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also added that the deal for jets in 2016 achieved the objectives of better price, better delivery period and better terms compared to the earlier proposal. “The Supreme Court has gone through the details of pricing and commercial advantage. The apex court has not found anything adverse in the deal and has refused to order an investigation as sought by the petitioners,” said the spokesperson.
“The CAG has been given access to all the files related to Rafale deal. It is best to await the report of an authoritative agency like the CAG,” the spokesperson said.
(With inputs from UNI)
