Cong. to seek JPC on Rafale deal

Party to hold demonstrations from the district level to the press the demand

New Delhi : Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram with party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala at a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday.PTI Photo by Subhav Shukla (PTI11_9_2016_000216b)

In an attempt to turn the alleged scam in the Rafale deal into the focal point of its campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress has decided to hold demonstrations from the district to State levels demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation.

This was decided at a meeting of Congress Legislature Party leaders, State unit chiefs and All India Congress Committee (AICC) office-bearers, chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

“In the next 30 days, Congress workers will fan out and hold district- and State- level demonstrations. Members of the Congress Working Committee, general secretaries, State in-charge leaders, AICC secretaries and all others will go to every level, from district to State, and ensure that a Joint Parliamentary Committee is instituted for a fair, independent and thorough probe,” the Congress’s communications head, Randeep Surjewala, said.

The Congress has alleged that the Rafale deal has caused a loss of over ₹41,000 crore to the exchequer.

“A company belonging to a friend of the Prime Minister has been given a contract worth ₹30,000 crore, after snatching it from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), a public company. It was decided that the corruption scams of the Modi government, particularly the Rafale scam, will be taken to the people of India,” Mr. Surjewala added.

Mr. Gandhi has been consistently raising the Rafale deal. He also spoke about it in his speech made during the no-confidence debate on July 20.

“We will not stop, we will not be deterred, and we will continue to push for ensuring that the Rafale and corruption scams are exposed,” Mr. Surjewala said.