Modi government must bring white paper on Rafale: Swaraj India

New Delhi, Feb 7 : Swaraj India on Wednesday raised various questions on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal and demanded a white paper on it.

The party said in a statement that its senior leader and noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan and its national President Yogendra Yadav earlier on October,20, 2016 had exposed the alleged dealings in Rafale, terming it a "bigger scam than the Bofors".

The party accused the government of "keeping the country in the dark" over the "dubious" deal for purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

Firing salvos at the Prime Minister, the party asked, "Who decided that India needs only 36 aircraft in Rs 58,000 crore and not 126 in Rs 54,000 crore, as was decided earlier by the union cabinet? Why was a three fold high rate of aircraft finalised, that too after scrapping the earlier deal without due process or cabinet consultation?"

"Why was public sector unit Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and the very clause of "Transfer of Technology" removed by Mr. Modi?," the statement said.

"The Prime Minister even overturned the government's decisions without any due process, cabinet consultation or even the involvement of his defence minister. When Modi finalised the deal in 2015 it was presented as a quick emergency measure on the pretext of immediate need for fighter jets. But today, even after three years have passed, we still don't have the aircraft. The sense of urgency is now no more to be seen," it said.

"Bofors was a Rs 64 crore scam while the amount here at stake in Rafale is Rs 58,000 crore. If the Modi government really wants to clear the air of suspicion, it should immediately come up with a white paper on Rafale deal and stop hiding behind secrecy clauses which actually do not apply to pricing of an international deal or the tender processes," Swaraj India said.