Kharge gives notice in LS demanding JPC in Rafale Deal

The Congress on Sunday demanded documentary evidence of claims made by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on contracts given to HAL and said in its absence the party will demand her resignation in Parliament.

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New Delhi: A day after a massive tug of war took place between Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with both taking constant jibes at each other, senior Congress leader Malikarjun Kharge on Monday gave a notice in Lok Sabha, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in Rafale Deal. The notice has been given under rule 193. The Congress on Sunday demanded documentary evidence of claims made by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on contracts given to HAL and said in its absence the party will demand her resignation in Parliament. Party spokesperson Manish Tewari said the Congress will press for her resignation in case she fails to substantiate her claim in Parliament that HAL was given contracts worth Rs one lakh crore. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has accused the defence minister of spinning lies in Parliament and said if she fails to provide the evidence on the claims made with regard to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, she should resign. When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the Prime Minister's (Narendra Modi) Rafale lie, the RM lied to Parliament. Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL. Or resign, Gandhi tweeted. Defence Minister Sitharaman hit back at Gandhi for his remarks, saying read "the complete report" to "which you are referring". However, as the LS record shows, Sitharaman did not claim the orders were signed, saying they were in the works, Sitharaman tweeted, quoting from the media report to assert that she had not stated in Parliament that the orders to HAL had been signed. Tewari alleged that the problem with the BJP-led NDA government is that whenever they are confronted with facts, they try and resort to hair splitting.