In a set- back to prime Minister Narendra Modi government, it is not only the Congress who is raising questions on the deal now other parties too have jumped into the fray seeking answers from the government.
After Shiva Sena demanded JPC, The BJD has now demanded white paper on the Rafale deal on the agreement that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to France in 2015.
“Questions of probity and questions of procedure do exist. Questions arise on pricing. It is well known that Qatar has bought the same planes at much cheaper price,” BJD MP Kailash Narayan Singh Deo reportedly told in the Lok Sabha.
He added that with these doubts lingering about the deal, the Parliamentarians could not be expected to be “mute spectators”
The biggest loss to the nation, Deo said, was the leaving out by the NDA of the transfer of technology clause that was put in the earlier deal that was finalised by the UPA. He demanded a white paper on why the deal that was announced by Prime Minister Modi during his visit to France in 2015 did not include a transfer of technology to India.
“Under the UPA, technology was to be transferred. The government should come with a white paper on why technology transfer was not done.”
He added that if “murky defence deals” inked by the Congress scarred it, such deals were bound to scar the NDA in future.
Without directly demanding for a JPC inquiry like Congress, the BJD MP said, “There needs to be a closer look at the deal. People of India should know what went behind the decision.”
