Rafale Deal in Lok Sabha: Govt, opposition in political slugfest as Rahul dares PM Modi to one-on-one debate

There was a heated debate over the controversial Rafale deal issue when Congress President Rahul Gandhi dared Prime Minister for a 20 minutes one-to-one debate over the alleged fighter plane scam.

Following is the chronology of events in the Rafale deal case in which the Supreme Court Wednesday reserved its order on pleas seeking a court-monitored probe in procurement of 36 fighter jets from France. (PTI)

New Delhi: The Rafale deal is likely to take center stage when the parliamentary proceeding in the Lok Sabha commence on Thursday. There was a heated debate in the Lower House over the controversial Rafale deal issue when Congress President Rahul Gandhi dared Prime Minister for a 20 minutes one-to-one debate over the alleged fighter plane scam. There was a massive uproar in the Parliament when Congress President Rahul Gandhi sought permission from the Speaker to play an audio tape which purportedly claimed that the sensitive Rafale deal files were lying in former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's bedroom. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hit back at the Congress President's allegation saying that he was blatantly lying over such a sensitive security issue and if he wanted to play the tapes, he would have to authenticate the same. As tempers ran high in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the tape is "false and fabricated", asking the Congress president if he can authenticate. Jaitley also asserted that Gandhi may have to face privilege motion and even expulsion in case the tape turns out to be fabricated. Parrikar on his part termed the audio clip cited by the Congress on the Rafale deal as a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after the Supreme Court exposed the "lies" of the opposition party. No such discussion as cited in the audio clip ever came up during the Cabinet or any other meeting, said Parrikar, who was the defence minister when India and France signed a deal for the purchase of fighter aircraft from France. The Congress earlier in the day demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Parrikar's purported claim and asked if this was the reason why a joint parliamentary committee(JPC) probe was not being ordered.