New Delhi, Feb 12 (NIE): Hitting back at the Congress, the BJP said on Monday that the Opposition party was “lying on a daily basis on the Rafale deal, in the hope that some allegations would stick”.

“Far from denting the image of the government, these repeated attacks, despite a Supreme Court judgment that vindicated the government’s stand, have reinforced the public perception that a corrupt Congress party is deliberately lying to defame a government known for its clean image and integrity,” said BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao.

“As regards the wild accusations, it must be stated that there have never been any sovereign guarantees ever from any country in defence purchases in India… Minor deviations of procedure are being portrayed as major lapses in procedure. All such minor deviations have been brought to the notice of the competent authorities and due approvals have been taken. Para 75 of DPP (Defence Procurement Procedure) 2013 states that any deviation from the prescribed procedure will be put up to the DAC (Defence Acquisition Council) through the DPP for approval,” he said.

“The DPP provides guidelines to be followed in general but also forsees that there would be occasions when some deviations from procedure would be required in the interest of the security of the nation and the DAC would be competent to take such decisions,” he said.