Rafale Deal: Rajnath Singh accuses Opposition of misleading people

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday accused the Opposition of misleading people regarding that Rafale fighter jet deal and said all details could not be made public in view of the security concerns. Singh was addressing a rally in Haryana's Ambala district.

This has happened not only in the current government's time, but also during the tenure of previous governments, he said.

Singh alleged that the Opposition leaders' demand to make details of the deal public was not practical and they were making efforts to come to power by spreading lies and misleading the people.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi were "making a lot of noise" over the Rafale fighter jet deal which was "between two governments".

Speaking on the sidelines of a function in Mumbai, the minister of state for social justice and empowerment said French President Emmanuel Macron has said the deal was between two countries and no one else was involved in it.

Macron had recently said the Rafale deal was a "government-to-government" discussion and he was not in power when the multi-billion dollar agreement for 36 fighter jets was signed between India and France.

"The Congress, especially its president Rahul Gandhi, is making a lot of noise over the Rafale deal. It is an agreement between two governments. The president of France has also made it clear that the Rafale deal is between two countries and no one else is involved in it," Athawale said.

He said Gandhi was maligning his own image on the issue.

(With PTI inputs)