New Delhi, Feb 14 (IT): Amid the ongoing debate over the Rafale fighter jet aircraft deal, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh on Thursday questioned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) capability to build good planes.
He also slammed HAL for failing to complete operations on time, claiming that some of the programmes are running late by over three years.
The minister's attack came a day after he slammed Congress President Rahul Gandhi for relentlessly questioning the revised NDA Rafale deal, claiming that it is costing more than the deal finalised when the UPA government was in power.
"Look at the condition of HAL. Our two pilots died. Sorry to say, but the programmes at HAL are running late by three-and-a-half years...Parts of aircraft are falling off on the runway. Is this capability? On the other hand, we say that HAL is not getting the (Rafale) work," he said.
Gandhi and a host of ministers from the main opposition party have been questioning why the contract was given to Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence.
However, Singh refuted such claims again suggesting that HAL is incapable of getting work.
Singh went on to cite the recent death of two pilots, who lost their lives after ejecting from a Mirage 2000 trainer aircraft at Bengaluru and questioned HAL's capability to build good fighter jets.
Earlier on Wednesday, Singh alleged that the Congress president and "his cronies" have received kickbacks on defense procurement decade after decade.
"Decade after decade, defense deal after defense deal when you get a kickback on the procurement, it becomes hard to believe and accept the fact that the Rafale deal was done without malice," he said.
"This is the problem Rahul Gandhi struggles with. Whether it was Bofors, Tatra Trucks, or the Choppers, he and his cronies have got kickbacks on everything. But, crying foul a 100 times, will not make a clean deal corrupt," he said.
The minister also requested the Congress party to not politicise the issue, adding that IAF would greatly benefit from the deal.
"If we keep pulling each other's legs, we will cause a major loss to the defence of the nation," Singh added.
Several reports have emerged recently which have posed questions regarding the authenticity of the revised Rafale deal but a Comptroller and Auditor General report showed that NDA deal for the jetfighter aircraft is 2.86 per cent cheaper than UPA's 2007 offer.
The report on Capital Acquisition in the Indian Air Force (IAF), which contained a detailed evaluation of the 2016 Rafale deal, was tabled in Parliament yesterday. However, there were several concessions in the NDA deal as compared to UPA's 2007 offer.