Congress,Charge on Rafale deal baseless:Nirmala Sitharaman

Rafale Deal Didn’t Snatch Jobs From HAL, Congress Charges Are False: Nirmala Sitharaman”

Defence Minister,Nirmala Sitharaman who was in the city on Sunday,met the media persons at Air Force Station in Yelahanka along with Air Marshal Rajesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria with PROs to Defence Ministry as,Swarnashree,Guruprasad and Madhusudan with other Air Force employees were present at the event as this is the first time the Defence Ministry is addressing bengaluru media persons alone.

On the Bengaluru leg of her multi-state tour to clarify on the Rafale deal, Sitharaman accused the UPA government of neglecting HAL.

Defence minister,Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday accused the Congress of shedding crocodile tears for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited by raking up a controversy over the purchase of Rafale jets and said the Bangalore-based PSU won’t be deprived of orders for other aircraft.

Defence minister rubbished allegations that the NDA government had snatched jobs from the country’s youth by ignoring HAL in the Rafale deal, saying it was the Congress which did not buttress the Defence public sector unit.To stand up to speak for HAL, you (Congress) haven’t done anything and you are alleging that we have taken away jobs by ignoring HAL.Did you complete the earlier Rafale deal during UPA? Did you take care of Indian Air Force and HAL?”she asked.The Union Minister was responding to media to a query on Congress constantly targeting the NDA government over ignoring HAL in the multi-billion dollar Rafale Aircraft deal.Ms Sitharaman told reporters that it was the BJP-led NDA government that took several steps to augment the production capacity of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, made by HAL.From the time this government came to power, it has analysed what the problem was in increasing the capacity of Tejas.I am glad to tell you that we have now given every support to increase it to 16 from 8 aircrafts.Did the Congress do anything to augment capacity for production of Tejas aircraft?.She asked.Noting that the NDA government had earmarked Rs 20,000 crore annually for HAL,which had so far received 83 more orders to manufacture Tejas, she claimed that during the UPA  regime,Congress had earmarked only Rs 10,000 crore annually.Ms Sitharaman also flayed Congress for not helping the HAL unit manufacturing Dorniers in Uttar Pradesh, where the first family of Congress resides.It is alleged that the entire campaign around the Rafale deal was based on falsehood and half-truths.Charging the UPA with ignoring the desperation of the Indian Air Force, which badly needed state-of-the art fighter jets, Ms Sitharaman flayed the Congress for failing to complete the deal between Dassault and HAL during its rule and she gave a jaap mantra as,there was no deal, no deal.between Dassault and HAL,” she said.

She gave an example for all who are speaking about Rafael she said as in Bhaktimarg people will be chanting mantra as Naam Jaapa so for this they should also started doing naam Jaapa as No deal no deal no deal no deal she said.

Asked why Dassault had entered into an offset agreement with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence rather than HAL, Sitharaman fired off counter questions.Did they (the UPA) tie up something with HAL that I have taken away? Did Dassault and HAL come to a complete agreement and the UPA government signed the deal and gave orders for 18 (Rafale jets) plus 108 or whatever?she said.Were the delivery dates and payment schedules fixed and then came Nirmala Sitharaman to take it away from them (HAL)?.They come and say, ‘You (the Narendra Modi government) have taken away jobs.I would request all of you to ask these fundamental questions and then charge me.The UPA government was negotiating a deal under which India would buy 18 Rafale jets in flyaway condition and have 108 assembled by HAL.The NDA regime, instead, went for the direct purchase of 36 aircraft.

The Rafale controversy has heated up in past recent weeks, with the opposition targeting the BJP-led central government over irregularities in pricing in the deal. The controversy took a new turn after former French President Francois Hollande stated on September 22 that Reliance Defence was nominated by the Indian government to partner with Dassault Aviation for the deal. The deal for 36 ready-to-fly Rafale jets was signed in September 2016 between former defence minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian following intense negotiations.

In January 2016 following the bilateral meeting between former French President Franois Hollande and Prime Minister Modi, the two sides had announced signing of Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA). The much-talked about Rafale deal was under negotiation during the UPA government’s time too. However, the negotiations did not conclude. Rahul Gandhi Has Become ‘Emperor of Lies’, Says UP Minister Sidharth Nath Singh.

Pointing out that agreements between Dassault Aviation and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) did not fructify during the UPA regime, she said some help from Antony, and the Defence Ministry under him, could have helped finalise the deal for HAL, which makes Sukhoi fighter jets at Nasik, civilian and military Dornier aircraft in Uttar Pradesh, and helicopters in Bengaluru for the Indian Air Force.

She said,The negotiations between Dassault Aviation and HAL did not reach a conclusion during their (UPA) regime.The question should be asked to them why it did not come through.If the then Raksha Mantri and the MoD (Ministry of Defence) had helped HAL from their respective sides, the deal could perhaps have been concluded.” The minister said the IAF has been a “captive consumer” of HAL products.

The Rafale fighter jets ordered by India would not be ready to fly at the air show in Bengaluru, scheduled for February, confirmed an official of the Indian Air Force on Sunday.

While addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal RK Singh Bhadauria said,Rafale for India will not be ready by February. We expect Dassault to fly some other Rafale at the Aero India show here on February 20-24, 2019.Thirty-six Rafales multi-role medium combat aircraft are set to be delivered to the Indian Air Force by the French aerospace major (Dassault Aviation), in fly-away condition from September 2019 onwards.The 12th edition of the five-day biennial air show will be held at IAF’s Yelahanka base on the city’s northern outskirts as beforeWhen asked who would flag off the mega show, Bhadauria said, “we hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it though the Ministry of Defence will take a call on it.”A major role will be played by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in the organisation of the air show, he added.

Denying that the government was politicising the Army’s surgical strike inside Pakistan two years ago, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said it was being celebrated as a festival to show that India won’t take any attack on its troops lying down.

“The ‘Parakram Parv’ is being celebrated in over 50 cities across the country to show that we are not going to accept a blatant cowardly act of a neighbour getting into our Army base and killing soldiers who were resting and unarmed,” Sitharaman told reporters here.

Giving the backdrop of the fest over the surgical strike on the intervening night of September 28-29, 2016, Sitharaman said it was necessary for the Army to hit the terrorist launch pads of the enemy in their territory.

Asked whether Robert Vadra’s name into the Rafale deal prompted AICC President Rahul Gandhi to politicise the issue, Ms Sitharaman said the primary trigger for adopting spit and run tactics by Congress was its failure to spot any corruption in any of the ministries under the Narendra Modi government.What is the primary trigger for leveling false allegations against us.I can only see,there is no corruption in Defence under Modi government.But in contrast, the UPA regime, the corridors of power were full of middlemen.So,probably that is the frustration which is bothering them.Having been out of power for four-and-a-half years, the Congress has become desperate just as a fish out of the water because it has failed to spot corruption even in the Defence Ministry of the Modi government.She also feared that the Congress would not even hesitate to cancel the Rafale deal after failing to establish concrete evidence to prove corruption in it Ms.Sitharaman Said.

Cease fire violation:

We are responding to every violation from Pakistan we are also eliminating them and pushing them back we are not letting any thing go un noticed.

When media persons said that that your party members are blaming you for the loss of BBMP mayoral elections,Minister said the allegations are baseless and she could not be present to vote for the BBMP mayoral elections on 28th September due to prior commitments surgical strike day and Tri-service commanders conference and as per the protocol,the minister has to be there and I was there for the surgical strike day celebration and Tri-Service commanders conference which will be held once in a year as from past 2 years it has not taken place and in this meeting all the officers across India will be assembled on this day the officers of Army,Navy and Air Force officers will be present at the conference which will be for whole day and Prime Minister will be listening to all the officers she said.