Was Anil Ambani in Ambala today?
Will Sambit Patra learn to spell Rafale correctly by the time the 36th jet lands?
No. of Rafale aircraft that landed in Ambala today: 5
(No. of hours the jets took to travel 6,421 km: 3 days)
No. of tweets put out by defence minister Rajnath Singh: 8
No. of aircraft to a squadron: 18 (21, if you include trainers and war wastage reserves)
No. of squadrons authorised to IAF: 42
No of Rafale ordered by India: 36
No. of Rafale still to be delivered: 31
Yet, it’s a measure of India’s current mood (and the amount of data in people’s phones) that folks welcomed it like a “rich son-in-law”.
It was such a proud moment for freshly minted atmanirbharata that we were reminded that the Made-in-France aircraft were accompanied by Made-in-Russia aircraft (here, here, here, here).
No. of Rafale aircraft India originally planned to buy: 126
No. of Rafales that were to be manufactured in France: 18
No. of Rafale that were to be made at HAL in Bangalore: 108
As the planes landed, everybody was pulling out their stump positions.
For the BJP, it was vindication, a “true testimony of Narendra Modi’s resolve”.
For the Congress, it was a moment to remind the world that it kickstarted the process—and the 108 aircraft would have cost Rs 526 crore each.
For some, it was another opportunity to send smoke signals to command central.
For critics of the deal, it opened up old wounds.
Why did the Modi government choose to renegotiate the deal, and why was HAL dumped and the contract given to Anil Ambani who couldn’t run a four-bogey airport train from Palam to Paharganj.
Ravi Nair, the journalist who kept up the heat on the deal till others in the media, like N. Ram of The Hindu joined in, reminded the cheerleaders of their silence.
Deep Halder didn’t want India to forget Manohar Parikkar, the deceased defence minister who was inaugurating a fish stall in Goa when Narendra Modi was inking the “government-to-government” deal.
After the hype and hoopla of the takeoff from France on Monday, the landing in Ambala on Wednesday was a bit of a dampener, as Section 144 was imposed to prevent photography of any assets of Air Force Station.
Thankfully, it was only from dusk to dawn, not dawn to dusk, so this video emerged.
For journalists who have been to Dassault headquarters in good times and bad, the landing of the fighter jets in India was a moment to press the rewind button.
For one, on the ground:
For another, in the air:
At least one defence reporter hopes the tamasha will end soon.
That can happen only when Sambit Patra stops confusing a girl with a plane.
But with the planes finally on Bharatiya soil, there is finally some ummeed.
