Rahul Gandhi – The New Indian Express

By IANS

NEW DELHI: French defense chief Dassault Aviation to pay a "backlinks" to secure the Rafale deal, Rahul Gandhi congressional president on Friday said Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not survive the "huge corruption" of the purchase.

"If an investigation starts (Rafale deal), Modi will not survive, guaranteed," Gandhi said at a press conference at the party center.

READ | Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi on the Rafale deal, claims Dassault Aviation has indemnified Ambani's company

For two reasons he justified his demands: "One is because of corruption, two because it is very clear who was the decision maker … No one could say that in the Air Force or Defense Minister, some bureaucrats in the Defense Ministry, Narendra Modi, Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore.

Gandhi also said that if there was nothing to hide, Modi ordered the decision to buy combat aircraft in France.

"If the Prime Minister did not attend, he would have said" be the CBI or the Supreme Court's question, "but he is silent because he is asleep because he knows they will catch him.

Investing in Dassault Aviation Rs 284 crore at a "lossy" Indian company, Gandhi said it was the "first installment of the rebate" paid by the French defense boss for the acquisition of the business.

"Dassault's CEO Eric Trappier claimed that Reliance was chosen as an offsets partner because he had land near the airport, but now it was found that the land was bought by the money invested by Dassault.

"The CEO is lying, the big question is why would Rs 284 crore be invested in a company whose capital is just over Rs 8 lakh and would be a loss? It is clear that this (investment) that Dassault has given "said Gandhi.

The president of Congress claimed Trappier was "lying" to save Modi, who announced the intergovernmental agreement in April 2015 to buy 36 Rafale nozzles for a total breach of defense procurement policies.

He also claimed that Alok Kumar Verma's Central Office of Defense was "removed" because it investigated documents related to the matter, which could cover the Prime Minister.

"The head of the CBI has examined all these papers, it is obvious that the audience has enough material around the Modi," Gandhi said, arguing that the recent visit by Minister of Defense Nirmala Sitharaman to France had become part of a deck that Modi was spoiling for the government to prevent the appearance of truth.

While arguing that his party would continue to demand the joint parliamentary committee to investigate the deal, Gandhi said, "Modi is afraid and will never agree with a JMP."

Reiterating that French President Emmanuel Macron told him that there was no secret clause on the price factor for the Rafale transaction, Gandhi said, "Pricing should not be part of the secrecy clause.