New Delhi: Launching a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale jet deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that he “sold” the Indian Air Force and “stole” opportunities of the youth by giving away Rs 30,000 crore to his “friend” and businessman Anil Ambani. New Delhi: Launching a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale jet deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that he “sold” the Indian Air Force and “stole” opportunities of the youth by giving away Rs 30,000 crore to his “friend” and businessman Anil Ambani. The government as well as Ambani have strongly denied any wrongdoing in the Rafale deal. Addressing the concluding session of the Youth Congress nationwide public outreach campaign ‘Yuva Kranti Yatra’, Gandhi said no one will be able to suppress the truth about the “Rafale scam” and it will come out finally. “The entire country knows that Mr Modi stole opportunities of the youth to give Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani. No one can suppress the truth about Rafale, it will come out itself,” he said. “You have sold the Indian Air Force,” he alleged, targeting Modi over the Rafale deal. He said the prime minister spoke for one and a half hours in Parliament but when asked questions on Rafale, he could not look in the eye and kept looking elsewhere.Gandhi said he met Goa Chief Minister and former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday. “Parrikar ji had himself said that while changing the deal, the prime minister did not ask the defence minister,” he said, without making it clear whether he was referring to Wednesday’s meeting or earlier remarks by Parrikar. Gandhi alleged that Modi snatched away employment from the youth of Karnataka and Odisha because he wanted to ensure that Ambani makes a benefit of Rs 30,000 crore. He also said the Congress will not be on the backfoot and will instead play on the frontfoot. “Modi has to face the public in 2019,” he said. According to Gandhi, the Congress has taken a historic step and decided on giving people right to minimum income. (PTI)
Parrikar hurt over Rahul ‘opportunism’
NEW DELHI: Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi of using his courtesy visit to him for “petty political gains”, asserting that there was no mention of the Rafale issue in their five-minute meeting.
In a letter to Gandhi, Parrikar asked the Congress chief to put out the truth and not to use his visit to an ailing person to “feed political opportunism”, BJP sources said.
His letter came a day after Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, claiming that Parrikar, who is a former defence minister, had clearly stated that he has nothing to do with the ‘new deal’.
“Friends, the ex-defence minister Parrikar clearly stated that he has nothing to do with the new deal that was orchestrated by PM Modi to benefit Anil Ambani,” the Congress leader told booth-level party workers meeting in New Delhi. His statement had come hours after he met Parrikar at the Goa assembly complex in Panaji.
In his letter to Gandhi, Parrikar said he feels “let down that you have used this visit for your petty political gains. In the 05 minutes you spent with me, neither did you mention anything about Rafale, not did we discuss anything about/related to it.” (IANS)