With the statement of former French President Francois Hollende, the truth has come to the fore again that in the Rafale Aircraft deal, the Indian government has played a direct role in favoring industrialist Anil Ambani’s company Reliance Defense Ltd. an offshoot partner of Dassault Aviation of France. It is a bitter fact even for the BJP as a political party that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the synonym of the Government of India. He negotiated directly with the then President of France in the Rafale Aircraft deal. That the Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks first for the Ambanis and then for the country is again a well-known fact even for the BJP. This is evident from PM Narendra Modi’s name along with his photo used for the promotion of Reliance Jio Sim, down to the tag of ’eminent’ granted to Reliance Jio Institute even as it existed only on papers.
The Socialist Party demands that the government should accept and own the truth about the Rafale Aircraft deal instead of white-washing the matter. The government should tell the people of the country that it has more trust in the Reliance Defense Limited, formed with the intention of grabbing the Rafale deal, instead of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a public sector undertaking that has the experience of 70 years of making more than 4000 aircrafts. That position would mean that the present government relies on private companies instead of public sector enterprises for the security of the country. Or the government should constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the whole matter. The testimonies of all the relevant parties including the former President of France should be undertaken in the process of the investigation. A fair and neutral scrutiny would require that the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister resign from their posts until the investigation is completed.
The Socialist Party registers its objection to the kind of language that is being used in the accusations/counter-accusations between the Congress and the BJP, particularly after the statement of the former President of France. It is true that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has compromised the dignity of the office. But desperate leaders who aspire to take his place do not have the liberty to down grade the level of political exchanges.
Socialist Party would like to ask the RSS chief, who is voicing his opinion a lot these days, about the Rafale Aircraft deal. Does he support the policy of giving the entire defense system to the private companies after this government’s decision of hundred percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the defense sector? The Socialist Party also urges all the parties/leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to come forth with their versions on this contentious issue so that the public do not get mislead. Misleading the public, either by the ruling alliance or by the opposition parties, amounts to the betrayal of the public in democracy.
Dr. Prem Singh
President
