As the five year term of the present NDA – government is nearing end, there has not been a single case of corruption. This is in sharp contrast to the erstwhile UPA – dispensation which was marked by a tsunami of scams entailing monumental loss to the exchequer.
Yet, for almost an year now, the air reverberates with a jibe ‘chowkidar chor hai’ – a euphemism to describe the security guard as thief. Herein, the guard is identified with Modi who in his very first speech on the Independence Day August 15, 2014 had vowed to protect the national resources from loot and use these for development and welfare of the majority of the poor and common man.
The jibe is being continuously hurled by none other than Rahul Gandhi, President of the grand old party [read: Congress] that had ruled the country for over five-and-a-half decades. It comes with a shocking insinuation that ‘Modi has taken away Rs 30,000 crore from the tax payer and given it to Anil Ambani’.
Rahul Gandhi sees a scam in Rafale deal – an inter-government agreement [IGA] entered into with French government in 2016 to import 36 multi-role combat fighter planes in fly-away condition. He argues that Modi unilaterally changed the terms of an earlier deal being negotiated by the then UPA – dispensation with Dassault, the manufacturer of the plane. That the change was made primarily to benefit his alleged friend.
Under the UPA deal, the then government proposed to source 126 of the Rafale planes. Of these, 18 were intended to come in fly-away condition and remaining 108 to be manufactured locally under an arrangement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited [HAL] with transfer of technology. The proposed deal did not materialize as contentious issues relating to the ‘time frame’ and ‘guarantee’ of HAL-manufactured stuff by Dassault could not be resolved.
For a person who has zero tolerance for corruption and whose entire political career – during his 13 year tenure as chief minister, Gujarat and 5 years as prime minister – is unblemished, the very thought of being involved in a scam involving alleged transfer of mammoth sum [Rs 30,000 crore] to a friend is abhorrent.
For any charge to make sense, there has to be a trigger either by way of indictment by a statutory audit institution such as the Comptroller and Auditor General [CAG] or existence of money-trail leading to a person in the position of authority who has allegedly extended favor. In the instant case, there is none unlike the scam-ridden UPA – dispensation when such triggers existed.
That apart, there are hard facts which completely rule out the possibility of any wrong-doing/irregularities whatsoever in the deal.
First, unlike all defense procurement done in the past which involved middle-men/intermediaries, for the first time ever, this transaction [read: Rafale deal] is between two sovereign governments ruling out any middle-man/agent. Whereas, under the former, commissions and corruption inevitably make way, the latter is a clean deal with zero probability of any money changing hands.
Second, the entire transaction has been carried out in a transparent manner conducting due diligence and following necessary processes including approval of the Defense Acquisition Council [DAC], Cabinet Committee on Security [CCS] etc. This is also corroborated by the order of the Supreme Court [SC] in a public interest litigation [PIL] which sought termination of the deal.
Third, there was no irregularity in the pricing [Congress had alleged that Modi was paying a price three times higher than what UPA had agreed to pay]. The SC saw nothing wrong in it. It also found no merit in the charge that a particular industrialist was favored. The apex court also held the government had no role in deciding the offset partner [under the extant policy, the foreign company securing the contract is required to source 50% of the value of contract from Indian companies].
Anil Ambani’s company is only one among over 70 Indian companies who are getting a slice of orders worth Rs 30,000 crore locals are expected to get under the offset clause. His share works out to a tiny fraction of less than 3%.
Furthermore, it is wrong to say that even this 3% or Rs 800 crore goes in to his pocket. Far from that, Ambani will have to invest his own funds to produce material [nothing to do with production of Rafale even remotely] worth Rs 800 crore to be purchased by Dassault. So, his earning would actually be a fraction of this say @10% Rs 80 crore – as against Rs 30,000 crore alleged by Congress!
Fourth, had there been an iota of truth in the main allegation [Modi has given Rs 30,000 crore to Ambani], this industrialist won’t be struggling to survive even now. Reliance Communication Limited [RCL] – the flagship company of Anil Ambani is now heading towards the bankruptcy court under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code [IBC] as it is unable to pay back its loans over Rs 40,000 crore to the banks.
Finally, when nothing else seems to be working and hell bent on ensuring that the corruption charge sticks on Modi come what may, Congress has now manufactured yet another lie. Relying on a ‘selective’ and ‘half-baked’ newspaper story which cites ‘then defense secretary strongly objected to PMO [prime ministers’office] allegedly running parallel negotiations with French government/Dassault’, it argues that he interfered with the process allegedly to benefit Ambani.
Ironically, the concerned story writer left out the reply of the then, defense minister, Manohar Parriker in that very document which described the observation of defense secretary as an ‘over-reaction’. It also ignores the fundamental fact that PM as the head of the government is ultimately responsible to the people. If, Modi acts proactively for expediting processes [as in case of numerous other projects with tremendous success], that should be welcome. Instead, it is being twisted to see a scam.
Congress has a vested interest in running a ‘factory of lies’. Unfortunately, it is working as manifest in the results of elections in three Hindi heartland states in December 2018. If, it works in the general elections too, this will be a national disaster. All well meaning persons especially those from the media – both print and electronic – should ensure that these nefarious designs are defeated.