Congress allegations on Rafale deal 'blatant lies': Reliance Defence

NEW DELHI: Reliance Defence has called allegations by the Congress + on Rafale deal as "blatant lies".

"Congress's allegation that Anil Ambani got contracts worth Rs 30,000 crore is an attempt to mislead public for political gains," the company said.

"Reliance Group and Anil Ambani are continuously being dragged into a political battle in view of the upcoming polls," it said.

"The Congress Party has today once again resorted to blatant lies and distorted facts to mount an unwarranted campaign of calumny and falsehoods against the Reliance Group and its Chairman Anil Ambani personally," the company alleged in a statement.

Earlier today, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that Dassault Aviation paid Rs 284 crore to Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence as the "first installment of kickbacks" and claimed Prime Minster Narendra Modi was having "sleepless nights" fearing action if a probe was conducted into the Rafale deal.

He also alleged that CBI chief Alok Verma was removed as he wanted to investigate the deal.

Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier has said the reason Ambani's firm was given the offset contract and not state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was that it had land for the project, Rahul said, alleging the land was purchased by Anil Ambani's company with the money that Dassault gave.

"Dassault gave Rs 284 crore to a loss-making company with a valuation of Rs 8.3 lakh. This is the first installment of kickbacks that has been given to Anil Ambani," he said.

"Rafale is an open and shut case and there is only one man who has done corruption," he said.