Rafale row: Rahul calls Modi corrupt

Says Sitharaman’s France trip is part of cover-up

New Delhi, Oct 11: Congress president Rahul Gandhi 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 `30,000 crore in the purchase of 36 aircraft.

Mr Gandhi’s demand for a probe came a day after a report in 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.

Mr Gandhi did not provide any evidence to back his allegations against the prime minister. The government has been insisting it had no role in Dassault’s choice of Reliance Defence.

“The reality is the prime minister is corrupt. The prime minister of India is a corrupt man,” he said.

Mr Modi came to power on the promise of fighting corruption, the Congress leader said, adding that he wanted to tell the youth of the country that the prime minister was involved in corruption.

On Wednesday, French investigative publication Mediapart, citing an internal document of Dassault Aviation, reported that the aerospace giant was forced to enter into a joint venture with Reliance Defence as part of a trade-off to bag the contract for the 36 Rafale jet deal. Dassault Aviation said in a statement that it has “freely chosen to make a partnership with India’s Reliance Group”.

Last month, Mediapart quoted former French president Francois Hollande as saying that France was given “no choice” on selection of the Indian partner for Dassault and the Indian government proposed the name of the Indian company to partner with the French aerospace giant.

The report triggered a massive political row with Congress escalating its attack on the government and the government firmly rejecting the charges.

Dassault and Reliance Defence have already announced setting up of a joint venture to manufacture aerospace components and fulfil offset obligations for the Rafale deal. In its reaction, Dassault Aviation said, “In compliance with the Indian regulations (Defence Procurement Procedure) and as frequent with such a contract, Dassault Aviation has committed to offsets in India worth 50 per cent of the value of the purchase.