Dassault paid ‘kickbacks’ to get Rafale deal: Rahul

NEW DELHI: Upbeat over pre-poll surveys predicting ‘victory’ for Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi mounted his attack on the government over the Rafale deal.

Alleging that Dassault Aviation paid Rs 284 crore to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as the “first instalment of kickbacks”, Congress president claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was having “sleepless nights” fearing action if a probe was conducted into the Rafale deal.

In a blistering attack, Gandhi said, “If an inquiry starts on this, Modi is not going to survive it. Guaranteed. One, because of corruption. Two, because it’s obvious who the decision maker was...it was Narendra Modi, and it was a deal done by Narendra Modi to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore.”

However, there was no immediate reaction from the government and Ambani on the fresh charges made by Gandhi. Previously, they had rejected all allegations made over the Rafale deal.

Rahul further alleged that Dassault invested Rs 284 crore in the company of Anil Ambani and the latter bought land with the same money. “This is clear that Dassault CEO is lying. Why did they invest Rs 284 crore in a loss-making company?” asked Rahul.

“The Dassault CEO had said the reason HAL wasn’t given the contract was that Anil Ambani had land. Now, it turns out that the land that Anil Ambani had was purchased by money given by Dassault,” alleged Rahul.

The Congress has also released financial reports of Dassault Aviation and Reliance Infrastructure to substantiate its allegations against both the entities.

He also alleged that Central Bureau of Investigation Director Alok Kumar Verma was “removed” because he was looking into documents of the deal that could nail the Prime Minister.