Rahul tells Nirmala Sitharaman: Prove order given to HAL or resign

Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday demanded that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman place documents before Parliament to prove her claim that the Modi government has given Rs 1 lakh crore worth of orders to defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), or resign.

Two days after Sitharaman made the claims in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Gandhi took to Twitter to question her claims, tagging a media report that said: "no actual order has been placed".

"When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the PM's Rafale lie, the RM (Defence Minister) lied to the Parliament.

"Tomorrow (Monday), RM (Sitharaman) must place before Parliament documents showing Rs 1 lakh crore of government orders to HAL. Or resign," said Gandhi.

Gandhi had earlier dismissed Sitharaman's arguments defending the deal to procure 36 fighter jets from France and accused her of evading his questions on the controversial deal while debating the issue in Parliament.

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