Rafale Deal Is "Father Of Bofors", Says Shiv Sena Lawmaker Sanjay Raut

Agencies
October 1, 2018

Mumbai, Oct 1: Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday described the  controversial Rafale deal as the "father of Bofors" and said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's importance in the country's politics had increased after repeatedly speaking against the deal.

In an article in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Mr Raut said those who accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's relatives of receiving kickbacks worth Rs. 65 crore in the Bofors deal are in power now. "Today, they are accused of pocketing Rs. 700 crore in the Rafale jet deal. Rafale is the father of Bofors."

Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party over Francois Hollande's reported claims on the deal, the Sena MP wondered if the former French president would be dubbed a supporter the Congress president or an "anti-national".

On September 21, a French media report quoted Mr Hollande as purportedly saying the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as an offset partner for Rafale maker Dassault Aviation in the Rs. 58,000-crore deal and France did not have a choice.

"The question is not that Anil Ambani was given the contract for the fighter jets, but, as against the price of Rs. 527 crore for each jet, the deal was done at Rs. 1,570 crore during (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi government's tenure. This means middlemen got a commission of about  Rs. 1,000 crore per jet," the Sena leader said.

Mr Raut termed it laughable the BJP's allegations that Mr Gandhi's criticism of the deal was akin to "speaking in the words of Pakistan and helping" the neighbouring country. "The same allegations were levelled against the Congress during the Bofors deal (in late 1980s). Was it then not helping Pakistan? Those in power term Bofors a scandal... However, they are not ready to believe Rafale is also a scam."

"In the country, only Rahul Gandhi was speaking against the Rafale deal, while all other political parties kept mum. Thus, Rahul is now getting more importance in the politics of the nation," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Mr Raut was apprehensive that the government would try to bring curtains down on the controversy by shifting the public's attention to issues like Ram temple and Hindu-Muslim. He alleged that a process was on to fool everybody on the deal and the government and BJP spokespersons were having to speak a "100 lies to hide one lie".

"Nothing related to security deals are hidden anymore. Thus, there is no point in not disclosing details in the name of (national) security. Defence deals have not been brought under the ambit of the RTI, yet this Rafale came out," he added.

Led by the Congress, the opposition parties have been attacking the BJP government over the Rafale deal, alleging it was procuring 36 Rafale jets from France at an exorbitantly high cost.

The government has denied the charge, arguing that it was getting the jets cheaper than what the previous UPA dispensation had negotiated. Anil Ambani had contended that the Indian government had no role in Dassault picking up his company as a local partner.

The Shiv Sena is part of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and also in Maharashtra. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party has often criticised the Modi government over its policies and other issues.

Comments

Hasan Zain
 - 
Tuesday, 2 Oct 2018

If Rafael Scam Has Happened. Then those who  defends that deal might have got the pie from it. Coz as a citizen of India for us country comes first. These people who defends in the name of patriotism are liar and in harsh words we can call them traitors. Coz they play with the security of our country. 
1,First they Made Demonetization, every middle class suffered and GDP came down no body woke up .
2. Then they brought GST all middle level business got killed,
3, Then they started Raising fuel Taxes up-to 300% Still nobody woke up,
4, Then currency got loosing its shine (now 1 USD is reaching 73 Rs)
5. Tried to bring FRCA bill So that people having money in bank may loose their deposits.
6, Gave more then 1000 crores to his friend for non existing university.
7. Lacks of crores written off from Banks in the Name of NPAs
8. Bank Defaulters are running from country and they cannot bring Back,
9, Lynching has become common,
10, Relation with all neighbors are at lowest term.(Even small country like Maldives sends back our Choppers)
11, Corruption at all time High,
12, Terrorism naxalism at all time high,
13, Black Money doubled in Swiss bank,
14, Inflation at all time high
15, Safe of Women at all time low.
and much more with unending list. 
they just do is please people in the name of patriotism and Lord Ram and play dirty politics.
Their defense is Pakistan, Qabrastan, Congress, Dynasty etc, You will never find genuine answer in any of debates on national channels from government or their parent organisation representatives

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: The Centre on Sunday asked state governments and Union Territory administrations to effectively seal state and district borders to stop movements of migrant workers during lockdown, officials said.

During a video conference with Chief Secretaries and DGPs, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla asked them to ensure that there is no movement of people across cities or on highways as the lockdown continues.

"There has been movement of migrant workers in some parts of the country. Directions were issued that district and state borders should be effectively sealed," a government official said.

States were directed to ensure there is no movement of people across cities or on highways.

Only movement of goods should be allowed.

District Magistrates and SPs should be made personally responsible for implementation of these directions, the official said.

Adequate arrangements for food and shelter of poor and needy people including migrant labourers be made at the place of their work, the official said.

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News Network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, June 16: Tensions along the Line of Control border between India and China have spiked with an Indian army officer and two soldiers killed in the Galwan area of Ladakh, the Indian army said in a statement on Tuesday.

This is the first time in decades that a clash involving casualties has taken place on the 3,488 kilometre border between India and China.

"During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation," said an official statement.

The two sides had made headway in talks last week with army chief General MM Naravane saying disengagement was in progress. The development had come after weeks of tension, including an incident in which patrolling soldiers from the two sides came to blows on the banks of Pangong Lake, resulting in injuries.

The two armies have since thinned out some forces in a positive signal but soldiers, tanks and other armoured carriers remained heavily deployed in the high-altitude region, an official had said.

India and China fought a brief border war in 1962 and have not been able to settle their border despite two decades of talks. Both claim thousands of kilometres of territory and patrols along the undemarcated Line of Actual Control - the de-facto border - often run into each other, leading to tensions. 

Comments

Angry Indian
 - 
Tuesday, 16 Jun 2020

where is our angry desh bakth RSS and sanghi...hiding in rat hole or @%#hole...now you can show your 56 inch chest to chinese...when pakistan destroyed our two fighter jet that time i relised we are making an monkey army not indian army...still time exist, still we have courage army...but we lack leader...we have maron PM...and some dog follower..they only know to bark in media and whatsapp...in reality they are just real na pustak...

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News Network
April 1,2020

Prayagraj,  April 1: Seven Indonesian nationals, one person from Kolkata and one from Kerala who had attended the event at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz have been put under quarantine, informed SP (City) Prayagraj, Brijesh Kumar Srivastava on Wednesday.

"Seven Indonesian nationals, one person from Kolkata and one from Kerala, were found at Abdullah mosque here. During the investigation, it was found that they had attended the Markaz gathering in Delhi. These people, along with 28 people who came in contact with them, have been quarantined." he said.

"A case has also been registered against them for not informing the police on reaching here," he added.

Earlier, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that the officials are not certain of the accurate number of people who participated in the event but it is being estimated that 1,500-1,700 people had assembled at the Markaz building.

The religious gathering was held at the Markaz building in Nizamuddin between March 13 and March 15.

The total number of active cases rose to 1466 in the country, while 132 people have been cured and discharged after receiving treatment, as of 9 am.

The number of deaths due to the infection also rose to 38, while one person has migrated.

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