AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Oommen Chandy on Thursday saw a ₹42,000 crore scandal in the purchase of Rafale fighter aircraft by the BJP-led NDA government involving the Reliance Group led by Anil Ambani.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Chandy said, though countries such as Qatar and Egypt had purchased the same aircraft, the NDA government had paid ₹350 crore more on each aircraft.
Stating that there was no transparency in the defence deal, Mr. Chandy alleged that the scam was meant to fund the election expenditure of the BJP. “The UPA government, during Manmohan Singh’s regime, had completed the deal for ₹18,000 crore,” Mr. Chandy claimed. “It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has turned into a middleman for Mr. Ambani, endangering the interests of the country,” he alleged.
Mr. Chandy also termed as ridiculous Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the deal had taken place without her knowledge. “When the Bofors issue had created a furore, the then Prime Minister had ordered an inquiry into it. The BJP government, on the contrary, is not inclined to answer the people on the issue,” he alleged.
APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy and former Union Minister Chinta Mohan were present.