Politics

Rafale jet deal: Rahul accuses Modi of being Ambani’s ‘middleman’

On Tuesday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi of being businessman Anil Ambani’s ‘middleman’ in the Rafale jet deal.

Gandhi cited an email to claim that Ambani was aware of the MoU before the two countries signed it.

Ambani’s knowledge of a defence deal under preparation, which even the then defence minister had said he was not aware of, is in violation of the Official Secrets Act, Gandhi alleged at a press conference, and said this “puts Modi in jail”.

Only Modi could have told Ambani about the deal in advance, he alleged.

“This is treason. He (Modi) is doing what spies do,” Gandhi said.

Ambani had met the French defence minister days before the signing of the deal during Modi’s visit to France in 2015, Gandhi said, quoting from an e-mail written by an Airbus executive to a French official.

The Congress president also rejected the Comptroller and Auditor General report on the Rafale deal, and dubbed it “Chowkidar Auditor General” report.

Holding up a copy of the email, Gandhi said: “Anil Ambani, who met the French Defence Minister, mentioned an MoU he is looking forward to sign after the Indian prime minister’s visit to France. Mr Ambani says he is first looking to make commercial helicopters. This is a breach of the Official Secrets Act. The PM is the only other person who knows about this. In fact, Anil Ambani opened his company after this meeting. The PM is acting as Anil Ambani’s middleman, it is in black-and-white for anyone who reads the email.”

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