Karaikudi (TN): Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Monday sought to know why the BJP-led NDA government was buying so few Rafale fighter jets if they were cheaper as claimed by it.
Talking to reporters here on sidelines of a party meeting, he said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had decided to buy 126 Rafale aircraft and entered into an agreement. But, the present government had cancelled it and inked a new deal.
“They claimed that the fighter jet was cheaper…In that case they should tell how they (jets) are cheaper…They are not revealing…besides if the cost of the plane is cheaper then why not buy more jets? why is the government buying only 36 jets?,” the former Union minister said.
Alleging that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was “not aware of anything”, he said in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime, three Union ministers have been taking care of the defence portfolio.