Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday continued his attack on the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal. The criticism and questions by Rahul and the Congress come after a French judge was appointed to investigate potential corruption and favouritism in the Rs 59,000 crore deal to supply 36 Rafale fighters for India.
Rahul on Sunday put out an online survey asking why the Modi government was not ready for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe on the Rafale deal. Among the choices given by Rahul Gandhi to the question were “guilt conscience, saving friends, JPC does not want a Rajya Sabha seat and all the above”.
"Why is the Modi government not ready for a JPC probe? -- guilt conscience, saving the friends, JPC does not want a Rajya Sabha seat and all of these are right," he said in Hindi on Twitter, while putting out the survey.
On Sunday morning, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera spoke about the Rafale deal at a press conference.
Khera was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying, "Post-Independence, all Central governments have regarded national security as a serious issue and have refrained from politicising it. The Modi government has too said that national security is paramount and there should be no compromise. However, when it comes to filling the pockets of their industrialist friends, their priority for the past seven years is crony capitalism. When it comes to filling their (industrialists’) pockets, national security becomes a form of sloganeering for them (Centre).”
Khera questioned the Modi government for not responding to the news about the French probe. "There has been no response from the Centre till now. What was Rafale? It was an inter-governmental deal. France has launched an investigation. On the other hand, forget about investigation, the Indian government has not even given one comment. And this is the government which is only known for talking. The prime minister, defence minister and other members of the Cabinet are silent," Khera was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala shared a video produced by the party multimedia mouthpiece INC TV on the Rafale issue. The video titled Rafale files includes several questions raised by the Congress over the Rafale deal, such as alleged irregularities associated with the inclusion of industrialist Anil Ambani in the contract.
