Congress to organise 'Rafale deal morcha' on July 30

The Congress are ready to out a rally or ‘morcha’ against the secrecy pact of the Rafale jet deal by the Central government, in Mumbai on July 30. The march is the part of protests that the party is planning to take out across the nation, senior party leaders said on Thursday.

The rally is expected to start from Fashion Street and will end at Azad Maidan of south Mumbai.

The Congress has been demanding the government to reveal the buying price of each Rafale jet in the ongoing Parliament Monsoon Session.

The current NDA government was purchasing the fighter jets from France at ‘much higher’ inflated price than the one negotiated by the UPA government, Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said while addressing a press conference.

During the monsoon session’s no-confidence motion debate, Defence Minister Niramala Sitharaman has clarified that the government cannot reveal the exact pricing details due to a secrecy pact in the deal.

The Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi had alleged that no secrecy clause existed, but French government issued a statement and contradicted to Gandhi’s allegations.

"The government cannot hide corruption under the guise of the secrecy clause. There is no transparency in the deal as it has been done without taking anybody into confidence. There is a lot of room for suspicion," Chavan said.

He added that the people should be informed about the exact price at which the jets are being bought.

"Secrecy is understandable for technical details and technology transfer, but not for the price of the aircraft," the former chief minister said.

Chavan further alleged that the NDA government is buying the jets at an inflated price.

"In 2012, the UPA government had fixed the deal at Rs 526 crore. We were going to get 36 Rafale jets for Rs 18940 crore.

"However, Narendra Modi government renegotiated the deal under which each fighter jet will cost Rs 1670 crore.

Moreover, India is not getting any technology transfer," he claimed.

Earlier, Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam had alleged that the Rafale deal is a "scam" worth Rs 41,205 crore.