Rafale Deal: Congress presents ‘fresh proof’ of 'scam', says precursor to 'massive storm'

Upping the ante against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged Rafale scam, the Opposition on Friday claimed that the silence of PM on the matter was a “fresh proof” of irregularities in the Rafale deal and a precursor to a “massive storm”.

“The silence of the Narendra Modi government on the new skeletons that have tumbled out of their Rafale scam cupboard is a precursor to a massive storm,” Congress leader Pawan Khera told reporters.

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Terming the Rafale deal India’s “biggest defence scam”, Khera said that Modi can’t escape his political and constitutional responsibility and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe in the “scandal”.

Khera said that the ‘management meet note’ of Reliance Infrastructure was another proof of Modi government’s “involvement” in the Rafale scam. The note, prepared by ICICI bank, claimed that Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence has formed a joint venture with French company Dassault Aviation for execution of offset obligations as part of the deal.

“Every day, new sets of irrefutable evidence are lining up at the doorstep of prime minister Modi which cements the charges of ‘squandering national interests’, ‘brazen crony capitalism’, ‘kickbacks and corruption’ and ‘serious illegalities’ that have taken place in the ‘murky saga of Rafale scam’,” the Congress leader said.

Khera said if Dassault Aviation in its annual report can reveal the price per aircraft, if Reliance Defence can reveal the aircraft price and if a retired bureaucrat and former ‘Head of Finances’ in Defence Ministry, can reveal the benchmark price, why the government cannot.

The Congress had Thursday accused Modi of compromising national interest on the Rafale issue, with party chief Rahul Gandhi alleging that the latest skeleton to tumble out of the “Rafale cupboard” is that there is no guarantee by the French government backing the deal.

(With PTI Inputs)