Lok Sabha: After Congress, Shiv Sena pounces on BJP over JPC for Rafale

Two days ago, Thackeray said a private company which had no experience in making aircraft was given a defence contract. Addressing a rally in this temple town in Solapur district, Thackeray was quoted by PTI saying, "Why should I join hands in the name of Hindutva with someone (a reference to BJP) facing so many allegations of corruption, be it Rafale jet fighter deal or crop insurance scheme."

Picture: @AGSawant (Twitter account)

New Delhi/Pandharpur (Maharashtra): The Shiv Sena on Wednesday questioned why the government was afraid of launching a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the alleged scam in Rafale jet deal. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said if the government has its hands clean, then it should be ready for a JPC probe.  Sawant made the comments after Rahul Gandhi and Arun Jaitley were locked in a squabble over the controversial Rafale deal. Despite being a constituent of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and also in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has been leaving no opportunity to attack the Modi government. Recently its chief Uddhav Thackeray had indicated his unwillingness to enter into an alliance with the BJP for the upcoming polls, asking why he should join hands with "someone" facing "corruption" charges. Two days ago, Thackeray said a private company which had no experience in making aircraft was given a defence contract. Addressing a rally in this temple town in Solapur district, Thackeray was quoted by PTI saying, "Why should I join hands in the name of Hindutva with someone (a reference to BJP) facing so many allegations of corruption, be it Rafale jet fighter deal or crop insurance scheme."

Arvind Sawant,Shiv Sena in Lok Sabha: Kaisa offset contractor tha ki jiski company nahi thi abhi, sirf kaghaz pe thi, jab ki HAL ke paas sab tha. Hamari sarkar agar saaf hai to hum kyun darrte hain JPC se? #Rafaledeal pic.twitter.com/qZ6MDXRxKg

— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2019

The Shiv Sena plans to fight all future polls alone but BJP is ensuring the alliance remains intact. Apart from general elections in 2019, Maharashtra will face assembly polls in the second half of the next year. The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence is an Indian offset partner of Dassault, the French company that is supplying 36 Rafale jets to India under a Rs 58,000-crore deal. Reliance Defence has strongly denied allegations of getting undue benefits from the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal.