New Delhi: The Congress on Monday cited a media report claiming that the government waived anti-corruption clauses in the Rafale deal to call for a probe into “who paid whom”, with party chief Rahul Gandhi alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “opened the door” to allow industrialist Anil Ambani to “steal” Rs 30,000 crore from the Air Force.
The all-out attack on the government came after a report in The Hindu newspaper claimed the Rafale deal between India and France involved “major and unprecedented” concessions from the Modi dispensation, with critical provisions for anti-corruption penalties and making payments through an escrow account dropped days before the signing of the inter-governmental agreement (IGA).
“NoMo anti corruption clause. The Chowkidar himself opened the door to allow Anil Ambani to steal 30,000 Cr. from the IAF (sic),” Gandhi tweeted, tagging the report.
The government, as well as Ambani, whose company is offset partner under the deal, have strongly refuted allegations of any wrongdoing in the fighter jet agreement with France.
Last week, the Congress president had demanded answers to questions raised by another report in the newspaper that the PMO conducted parallel negotiations on the Rafale deal. Repeating the “chowkidar” epithet, he ramped up his attack on the prime minister and said it was “crystal clear” that the “watchman” is the “thief”.
Speaking at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s day-long fast at the Andhra Bhavan here, he alleged that Prime Minister Modi had “stolen” from the people of the state and given the money to industrialist Ambani.
“The Prime Minister became Prime Minister by saying, he is going to fight corruption. Have you read The Hindu newspaper today…The Prime Minister has stolen from the people of Andhra Pradesh and he has given that money to Mr. Anil Ambani, that is the fact of the matter,” he said. (PTI)
