Congress prepares ground for Rafale deal JPC, plays down MK Stalin's critics

Chennai: While fortifying its plea for a Joint Parliamentary Probe (JPC) into the Rafale fighter jets deal after the Supreme court declined to order a probe into the purchase in view of security interests of the country, senior Congress leader, Mr. M Veerappa Moily on Friday hinted that Reliance would be out of the contract if Congress was voted back to power at the Centre in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Mr. Moily, who visited the Congress headquarters here, 'Satyamurthy Bhavan', taking a range of issues from media personnel, also played down the initial seemingly adversarial reactions to the DMK president M K Stalin on his recent declaration that his party proposed Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the Prime Minister's post, by other leaders in the secular alliance, notably the Left parties and the West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee. "They had only described the timing as inappropriate and accused the media of twisting the whole issue," Moily said, dispelling impressions that Congress was cool to Mr. Stalin's proposal.

Mr. Veerappa Moily said the West Bengal Chief Minister and the Left had only described the timing as not appropriate to naming Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition's Prime Ministerial candidate.

Moily said this in response to a question from reporters here on the opposition to DMK chief M K Stalin's call days earlier in this connection and whether his party would officially declare Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

On December 16, Stalin had vowed to Rahul Gandhi the country's next prime minister and lauded him for having the ability to defeat the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

He made the pitch at a rally followed by the unveiling of a bronze statue of DMK patriarch and his father late M Karunanidhi at party headquarters Anna Arivalayam that day.

"This is all false. What Mamata has said that it is not the appropriate time to declare a Prime Ministerial candidate...this is what she said... they were not opposed.. ...it is only the press that twisted it and it is very clear.

The Opposition parties are being united now and the stand of parties like Trinamool Congress on the timing does not rule out Rahul Gandhi becoming the common leader," he told reporters here.

Eventually, the NDA government-led by the BJP should be dislodged from the Centre and a government comprising Opposition parties "just like the United Progressive Alliance," should be back in power, he said.

"Don't come to a conclusion, they are not coming to a conclusion, why should you,"? Moily asked.

To a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that Congress was only paying lip-service to farmers issues, he claimed that just prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Prime Minister had assured that loan waivers would be the 'first agenda' of his cabinet, if his government was voted to power.

Such promises turned out to be false, he said. The Congress, in contrast, had always honoured its promises, he claimed.

In 2008-09, Rs 72,000 crore loans availed by about 13 crore farmers was waived by the Congress-led UPA government and in about 2-3 months time, the banks were paid the loan amount so that they did not collapse, he said.

Also, in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Karnataka, farm loans were waived by the Congress, which has a history of keeping its promises, he added.