Nagaland: Therie says biggest corruption occurred through Rafale deal

26 July 2018:

Nagaland Congress chief K Therie said the biggest corruption in the history of India was exposed by the ‘Annual Report, 2016’ of Dassault Aviation, in a single shot.

Therie in a statement said: “For 36 Rafale Aircraft, Modi has paid 60,145 crore at the rate of 16,70.70 crore per aircraft. However, the international bid of 2012 during UPA where the rate of each aircraft was only 526.1 crore and the total deal worth was 18,940 crore, was cancelled. Thus, Modi has paid more than Rs.41,205 crore in excess. More than 40,000 crore kickback for sure. There is no reason to cancel an International bid winner’s contract of Rs.18,940 crore and pay Rs.60,145 crore if it was not for kickbacks!”

Therie alleged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lied to the nation. In reply to a stared question in the Rajya Sabha on March 18, 2018, she announced that the cost per Rafale aircraft was about Rs.670 crore whereas in reality, it was Rs.1670 crore. She hid Rs.1,000 crore per aircraft. Why should the nation forgive such a liar? Therie asked

“PM Modi lied to the people refusing to disclose the price of the Rafale deal. Terms and conditions covered under the agreement are tactical and technical and not the price. In the past, UPA has declared all such prices. There has not been any agreement not to disclose the price and there is no need for such an agreement because the deal is funded by public money…

“PM Modi has also failed to answer Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the No-Confidence Motion debate on July 20 as to why the price should not be transparent; why he has by passed mandatory provisions in taking the approval of Defence Procurement Procedure, Cabinet Committee and why he has compromised technology transfer to HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), a PSU,” the Nagaland Congress chief said.