Congress president Rahul Gandhi yesterday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a debate on the Rafale jet deal with France, reiterating his corruption charge against the government.
Gandhi said he was ready for a debate with Modi at any place and time to prove that the government was buying each jet for Rs1,600 crore against the Rs540 crore when the contract was signed during the earlier Congress rule.
Addressing a meeting of party workers, Gandhi said Modi could not look him in the eye when he spoke in parliament on the aircraft deal.
“I spoke before the ‘chowkidar’ with a 56-inch chest. He was looking everywhere but towards me. A corrupt person when told about his theft can’t see you in the eye,” Gandhi said.
The Congress chief said that during his 90 minute reply to the debate, Modi did not speak a single word about the Rafale deal.
He reiterated his charge that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had lied to the nation that the aircraft price can’t be revealed under a pact between India and France.
The Congress leader had claimed that French President Emmanuel Macron had told him that there was no such pact and that the Indian government could reveal the price to anyone it wants.
Gandhi recalled that the Congress government had given the contract for 126 aircraft to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited because it had been making aircraft for 70 years. He said when Modi visited France, the contract was snatched from HAL and given to “his friend”.
“Modi’s friend did not make aircraft in his life. That businessman is in Rs45,000-crore debt,” Gandhi alleged.
He said the contract was given to a company formed only 10 days before the contract.
Gandhi accused the Modi government of betraying Indian youth as the manufacture of the aircraft by HAL would have given employment to hundreds of thousands of Indians.
The Congress leader said that the non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks shot up to Rs12 lakh crore during the Bharatiya Janata Parry rule from Rs2.5 lakh crore under the Congress rule. He claimed that the entire Indian banking system has jammed.
He targeted Modi for failing to fulfil commitments made to both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at the time of the bifurcation of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Gandhi said if voted to power, the Congress would fulfil all commitments, including a special category status for Andhra Pradesh.
Targeting Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Gandhi wanted to know why he supported Modi on demonetisation, the Goods and Services Tax and other issues when the prime minister failed to fulfil commitments given to the new state.
Gandhi said that Telangana has become the “capital of corruption” as only one family is reaping all the benefits.
He said that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief was no less than Modi in making false promises.
Congress supporters wave hands towards party president Rahul Gandhi at an event in Hyderabad yesterday.
