Arun Jaitley Poses 15 Questions to Rahul Gandhi on Rafale, Alleges False Campaign

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi over the Rafale fighter jet deal, posing 15 questions in a blog post and accusing the Congress of running a false campaign on the issue.

Jaitley’s charges

In the post, titled “15 Questions that Expose Congress Party’s Falsehood on Rafale”, Jaitley accused Gandhi and the Congress of holding up the deal for more than ten years and putting national security at serious risk. He said every claim the party had made about the price and the procedure was “completely false”.

Jaitley said that on 27th June, 2012, the UPA government ordered the deal to be re-examined, which in effect threw away an eleven-year process and required it to start afresh. He argued that the UPA’s slow approach harmed national security at a time when India’s squadron strength was falling as aircraft aged.

The Congress allegations

The Congress has charged that the Modi government is hiding the aircraft’s price, and claims it was three times the price negotiated by the UPA with France’s Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer. It has also alleged that Prime Minister Modi “personally benefitted” from the deal and that this explained his silence.

The party has further accused Modi of helping his “friend” Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group win offset contracts, bypassing the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Reliance responds

Several Congress leaders have received defamation notices from the Reliance Group, asking them to “cease and desist” from making what it called misleading charges. Anil Ambani also wrote to Rahul Gandhi, saying the party had been misinformed by vested interests and corporate rivals on the issue.

See also: Bharatiya Janata Party

Originally published on 29 August 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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