Rafale could prove Bofors for BJP: Prashant Bhushan

Swaraj Abhiyan leader Prashant Bhushan on Saturday attacked the central government over the purchase deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and said "it will prove to be the Bofors for the BJP".

"From the stony silence of the government to the revelations made by Swaraj Abhiyan, and the allegations and evidence provided by Edmonds Allen to the government, it is clear that the Rafale deal could well be the Bofors of the BJP," Bhushan said in a statement here.

Bhushan's remarks came two days after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar defended the 7.87 billion euros (about Rs 59,000 crore) Rafale deal as the "best deal".

"One might recall that when the Bofors scandal erupted, Rajiv Gandhi was known as 'Mr Clean' and his response was also the same – that the Bofors deal was the best deal that could be struck by the government, that the Bofors guns were the best, and thereafter a farcical CBI inquiry was done to whitewash this matter," he added, reports IANS.

Lashing out at Gandhi, a Lok Sabha MP from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Bhushan said: "He denies he leaked any defence secrets by saying he never attended meetings of the Defence Consultative Committee and only a few meetings of the Standing Committee on Defence; and that he did not have access to any sensitive defence material."

"Interestingly, he has not denied the allegation that he was honeytrapped by Abhishek Verma," the Swaraj Abhiyan leader said.

Bhushan's remarks came two days after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar defended the 7.87 billion euros Rafale deal as the "best deal".