‘Foreign alliance’ – Modi’s shield to counter Rahul Gandhi’s attack over Rafale deal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday used the BJP’s "international conspiracy" narrative to counter Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s attack over alleged irregularities in the Rafale aircraft deal.

Addressing BJP workers during the 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the Prime Minister accused the Congress party of indulging in a campaign of slander and lies against him.

"The Congress has lost its mental balance after losing power. After not finding any in India, it's looking for alliance partners outside the country... Now will a foreign country decide who will be the country's Prime Minister?" Modi said keeping with the BJP’s "international conspiracy" theme to counter Gandhi’s charges on Rafale deal.

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Modi said that while the BJP was fighting elections on the issue of development, the Congress wanted to capture power through mischief.

“We have decided to fight elections on the issue of development, but they want to fight the election by breaking the society. They want to capture power through mischief. They want to use a handful of people to spread falsehood and storm of lies to capture power," the PM said.

“The political slugfest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress over the controversial deal of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft intensified after former French president Francoise Hollande’s startling revelation about the deal.

Hollande claimed that the Narendra Modi government had proposed the name of Indian partner for Dassault Aviation, the company responsible for making the Rafale fighter aircraft.

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After this, the Congress president launched an all-out attack against Modi, accusing him of overlooking HAL and helping his ‘businessman friend’ to get the Rafale deal contract. The Congress party even moved to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), demanding registration of a corruption case in the deal.

Countering the Congress’ allegations, the BJP said that the allegations of the Opposition party was part of an ‘international conspiracy’. Addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in Delhi on Monday, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat claimed that the allegations of Congress were part of an ‘International conspiracy’ to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi.