Opposition ups ante on alleged Rafale deal corruption

On the last day of the Monsoon Session, opposition MPs launched a protest against the BJP-led NDA government on Friday demanding answers from it over the alleged scam in Rafale fighter jet deal with France. UPA chairperson and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi led a protest over the issue in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament complex. Opposition MPs, including Raj Babbar, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, CPI's D Raja, AAP MP Sushil Gupta among others held protest outside Parliament, holding placards and raising slogans demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the issue. Congress members on Thursday had created uproarious scenes in the Lok Sabha demanding a probe into the Rafale deal by a JPC, forcing an adjournment of the proceedings. They were heard demanding a JPC probe into the deal and a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the government prepares to table the much-debated Triple Talaq Bill in the Rajya Sabha today, Gandhi, when asked about the issue, told reporters, “Our party's position is absolutely clear on this, I will not say anything further on this.”