Bofors sank Congress, Rafale will bring Modi back: Sitharaman's fiery response in LS

“Timely getting equipment for our armed forces should be priority, considering the sensitive condition at the border” she added.

New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday hit back at the Congress vociferously on the Rafale issue and accused the party of not going ahead with the deal as it wasn't suiting and getting them the money. Replying to the relentless attacks of Rahul Gandhi and alleging that the UPA dragged its feet on security matters, Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha said, “The environment around India’s neighbourhood is volatile especially in western frontier and northern border. We should recognise timely procurement of arms is priority for our defence forces.”  Sithataram cited examples of host of fighter jets and weapons being added to China and Pakistan’s arsenal and how India's squadrons came down from 42 to 33. The defence minister questioned why the Congress didn’t purchase Rafale jets between 2006-2014. She said the UPA government wanted only 18 flyaway fighter jets and had created a deadlock. "You stopped the deal, forgetting airforce was suffering, because it didn't suit you. The deal didn't get you money." The defence Minister further said that there is a difference between Defence dealings and dealing in defence; "We don't do defence dealings. We deal in defence with national security as a priority". She said the Congress doesn't have any documentary evidence on price of Rafale.

She also revealed that "The first Rafale aircraft will be delivered in September 2019 and 36 aircraft will be delivered in the year 2022. The process of negotiation was finished in 14 months".

Defence Minister in Lok Sabha: The first aircraft will be delivered in September 2019 and 36 aircraft will be delivered in the year 2022. The process of negotiation was finished in 14 months. #Rafale pic.twitter.com/V0FsmB03yx

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2019

She further took on Congress party and said that Congress did not intend buying the jets . For every 'AA' there is a 'Q' and 'RV', in a veiled reference to Quattrocchi and Robert Vadra.

RM spoke for two & half hours but dint respond to my ques as to who decided to award contract to Anil Ambani instead of HAL- @RahulGandhi in Lok Sabha

— Ashish (ABP News) (@AshishSinghLIVE) January 4, 2019

Accusing the Congress' strategy  of "spit and run", Sitharaman said, " the Defence ministry has run without dalals in last 5 years. Bofors was a scam, Rafale is not. Bofors sank Congress, Rafale will bring Modi back to power.” With regard to pricing difference, Sitharaman said there was no formal price noting by the Congress of Rs 526 crore as the deal price. But the price negotiated by the NDA government is nine per cent lower than what was negotiated by UPA, reported PTI. "Comparing the cost of Rs 526 crore with Rs 1,600 crore, is like comparing apples to oranges. The cost quoted in 2007 will it remain the same in 2016, because there is escalation cost and there is exchange rate variation," she said. "The price of the basic aircraft cannot be compared with price of weaponised aircraft," the minister further said. Sitharaman alleged that the Congress was only shedding "crocodile tears" on the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) not getting the offset contract as it did nothing to scale up the capacity of the state-run firm. Whereas the BJP-led NDA government gave Rs one lakh crore worth of contracts to HAL, she was quoted by the news agency. Unconvinced by her reply, Gandhi said that the defence minister hasn't still explained why Anil Ambani's firm was awarded the contract and not Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. (WATCH NIRMALA SITHARAMAN'S FULL SPEECH BELOW)