Rahul Gandhi claims Defence Minister Sitharaman lied to the nation on Rafale deal

Congress president Rahul Gandhi made a startling charge against Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, claiming that she had lied to the nation.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the NDA government, Rahul said Sitharaman claimed there was a secrecy pact with France on the Rafale aircraft deal. "I personally met President of France and asked him if any such pact existed. He clearly said there is no pact," Rahul aid.

Rahul alleged that Modi had a close relationship with certain businessmen and one of them was given the Rafale contract after taking it away from HAL. "Why was the contract taken away from HAL and the youngsters of Karnataka and given to this businessman who has a debt of Rs 30,000 crore?” Rahul said.


Rahul said the prime minister must answer in this House if the Cabinet Committee for Security took this decision.

However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar interruoted Rahul's speech and said his allegations were defamatory. He read out from the rules of the House to argue his point: .“No allegation of a defamatory or incriminatory nature shall be made by a member against any person unless the member has given adequate advance notice to the Speaker and also to the Minister concerned so that the Minister may be able to make an investigation into the matter for the purpose of a reply.”

The House was adjourned after several defamatory statements against PM Modi by Rahul provoked the treasury benches and it led to a big ruckus.