Raphale deal: Parliament likely to witness heated arguments 

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the CPM have intensified their attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union government by taking up the launch of a judicial inquiry in France into the 2016 multi-billion-dollar deal for Rafale fighter jets. With this, the parliament session that will begin on July 19 is likely to witness heated arguments between the NDA and the opposition.

A day after the Congress demanded a JPC probe into the Rafale deal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday put out an online survey asking why the Modi government was not ready for it.

Among the choices given by Gandhi to the question were guilt conscience, saving friends, JPC does not want a Rajya Sabha seat and all the above.

"Why is the Modi government not ready for a JPC probe? -- guilt conscience, saving the friends, JPC does not want a Rajya Sabha seat and all of these are right," he said in Hindi on Twitter, while putting out the survey.

The CPI(M) also demanded the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the role of the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal.

In a press statement, the party said the French Public Prosecution Services (PNF) has ordered an investigation by a French judge into the 2016 multi-billion-dollar deal for Rafale fighter jets entered into by the Modi government and a judicial probe was formally opened into the inter-governmental agreement on June 14, following a decision by the financial branch of the PNF.

It further said official papers concerning the deal exposed by a French investigative website show that Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the Rafale jets, and Anil Ambani''s Reliance Group entered into an agreement on March 26, 2015, 15 days before Modi's announcement of the new deal and the exclusion of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from it.

"This reconfirms the apprehensions raised by the CPI(M) that PM Modi's turnaround from the earlier purchase agreement is mired in deep corruption and money laundering.

"The politburo reiterates its demand raised in September, 2018 for the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the role of the prime minister and the government in this whole episode and establish the truth of the deal," the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said.