BJP releases 'Rafale deal for dummies' video featuring Pallavi Joshi; TV actor explains pact through housing society analogy

After the Congress raised several questions on the Rafale fighter jet deal with France and even accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of lying to the nation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released a video  titled “Rafale deal for dummies” as a comeback. The video features television personality Pallavi Joshi, who attempts to explain the agreement by making comparisons with the workings of a housing society. She says that the earlier secretary of her society had been talking about a deal with a French company, which would have provided them with password-protected locks. She goes on to say that after no development on this front for 10 years, she found out after taking over the post that the deal was only to buy a plain lock. Joshi further says that the maintenance and upgrade of such locks would have come at a cost, and that the total amount would have exceeded Rs 10,000. She says she renegotiated the entire deal with the same company at a lower cost and also ensured that some parts of the locks were “Made in India”. Claiming that the Rafale deal is something similar, she says that some of the parts of the planes would be made in India.

Rafale deal for dummies... pic.twitter.com/wqk2RwHreh

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 13, 2018

Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a debate on the Rafale aircraft deal. “…Let a debate happen between me and Narendra Modi on the Rafale deal… I will speak at length for hours,” Gandhi said at a Jana Dwani (people’s voice) rally in Bidar, organised by the Karnataka Congress. Launching a scathing attack on the Centre, Rahul said: “Nirmala Sitharaman said India and France have a secret pact, and so they can’t reveal the price of Rafale aircraft. I asked the French president if this was true, and he denied it.” With inputs from agencies