'PM Narendra Modi is a corrupt man'

Congress President Rahul Gandhi demands a probe against PM Narendra Modi with reference to the alleged scam in the Rafale deal as AICC chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala looks on. Pic/PTI

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded an investigation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his role in the Rafale deal, alleging that he was a "corrupt man" who helped Anil Ambani pocket Rs 30,000 crore in the purchase of 36 aircraft.

Gandhi's demand for a probe came a day after a report in a French publication that said Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale, had to choose Ambani's firm Reliance Defence as its offsets partner in India as a trade-off for getting the deal. The Congress president did not provide any evidence to back his allegations. The government has been insisting it had no role in Dassault's choice of Reliance Defence.

The Congress president also described Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's three-day trip to France from Thursday as part of a "huge cover-up" by the government on the Rafale deal.

"Why has suddenly the defence minister rushed to France? What is the emergency?" Gandhi asked at a press conference. "The reality is the prime minister is corrupt. The prime minister of India is a corrupt man," he said.

BJP hits out
The BJP on Thursday accused Gandhi of mocking national security and said he is trying to build his political career by spreading lies on the Rafale fighter jet deal. Hitting out at Gandhi over his allegations that PM Modi is corrupt, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress president himself comes from a family of middlemen. His family earned money from every defence deal that took place before 2014, Patra alleged, adding that Gandhi and his party jeopardised the defence of the country.

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