Rahul Gandhi trains gun at government over Rafale deal, alleges a 'scam'

NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi today attacked the government over what he called "the great Rafale mystery", alleging that there was a "scam" in the fighter aircraft deal between India and France which was "personally got done" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his "reliable buddy".

The Congress president also said that it was "for the first time" that the country's defence minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) was not sharing the purchase price of the aircraft as he asked the media why it was not raising questions on the issue.

"Top Secret (Not for Distribution)/the defence minister says the price negotiated for each Rafale jet by the prime minister and his 'reliable' buddy is a state secret," he tweeted, without naming the "reliable buddy".


He claimed in the tweet that the government has adopted a two-point action plan, whereby it would say "informing Parliament about the price is a national security threat" and "brand" those asking about it as "anti-nationals".

Gandhi's attack came a day after Sitharaman refused to share the details of the deal on the grounds of security agreement signed between India and France in 2008.

Her response was to a written question in Rajya Sabha by Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal, who had asked whether the government did not want to disclose in public domain the agreement between India and France for purchasing the aircraft.

"Modi ji has personally got the deal done. Modi ji had personally gone to Paris. Personally the deal was changed. Entire India knows it," he told reporters outside the Parliament.

"And the defence minister is saying she will not inform India, the Indian martyrs and their relatives about the money spent on buying those aircraft. What does this mean? This only means there is some scam," he alleged.

Gandhi said he had raised the issue during the Gujarat assembly polls as well.