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IANS
New Delhi
Alleging Narendra Modi's"personal culpability"in the Rafale jet purchases, former BJP Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie on Tuesday accused the Prime Minister of"compromising national security"by unilaterally finalising the deal, shunning every rule of military procurement.
Addressing the media, both Sinha and Shourie said the government had"spun a web of lies to protect Modi's culpability in the largest defence scam"the country had ever seen.
The two dismissed all the explanations given by the Modi government and the ruling BJP in justifying the deal as"blatant lies"and said Modi"usurped the authority"and unilaterally cancelled the original deal for the sake of his"crony capitalists".
"In so far what has transpired, it directly reflects Modi's personal culpability, there is no escaping that fact. Every explanation they put out ensnares the government in the web of lies they have spun. This means they have a lot to hide,"said Shourie.
They said that Modi kept the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Defence Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry in the dark about the new deal before making a sudden announcement in April 2015.
"National security has been compromised by Modi and every rule of procurement flouted to unilaterally reduce the number of planes from 126 to 36 and remove Make in India under Transfer of Technology by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) despite the fact that IAF, Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) and MoD had come to a reasoned conclusion that 126 aircraft were required for the long term needs and security of the country,"said Shourie.
Citing procedural requirement of DAC's approval being a condition precedent for finalising a new deal, they pointed to the fact that the approval for Modi's deal was given by DAC on May 13, 2015.
