Rahul slams PM over Rafale deal; says country can\'t be run by one man

Rahul slams PM over Rafale deal; says country can't be run by one man

Press Trust of India  |  Bhilai (C'garh) 

Wednesday said Modi would be exposed if an inquiry was conducted into the fighter jets deal.

Gandhi targeted both Modi and over alleged scams under the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) rule.

"Modiji snatched the contract of the fighter jets from the State-run (HAL) and gave it to (industrialist) Under the UPA deal, 126 were to be purchased and the cost of each was Rs 526 crore.

"Modi went to with his delegation comprising and struck a deal to purchase the for Rs 1,600 crore apiece," he said.

"The deal has been given to Anil Ambani, who formed a (defence) company just a few days ago. Ambani has never made an He had not even manufactured because they were made in and he (his group's telecom arm) just sold them," Gandhi said.

"It is the truth that the chowkidar (watchman, referring to Modi) gifted a deal worth Rs 30,000 crore to Ambani," he alleged.

"The day an inquiry is ordered into the scam, two names will surface -- Modi and This was the reason Modiji removed the CBI (Alok Verma) at 2 in the night," Gandhi said.

"Modiji had urged the people to make him the chowkidar of the country and not the But now, he is doing chowkidari for Anil Ambani (and fugitive businessmen) Nirav Modi, and Vijay Mallya," he added.

Both the government as well as Ambani have denied the allegations of corruption and favouritism in the Rafale deal.

The also targeted the prime minister over his "sleeping elephant" remark during the speech, saying he had insulted the people of the country.

"Modiji said when he became the prime minister, the elephant was sleeping, which meant this country of crores of people, farmers, labourers and youth was sleeping and Modi woke them up in 2014.

"By making such comments, he has insulted you, the workers of the who have worked here since 1955," he said.

"This country is not run by one man or one party, it is the citizens who run this country with their blood and sweat. But the prime minister cannot understand this. He is so arrogant that he cannot see the development that had taken place (before the BJP rule) in the country," the chief said.

He added that there were "two Indias" -- one of the rich people like Anil Ambani, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, and another of the common people.

"If you do not want to waive the loans of farmers, you should not do so for the rich as well. For a handful of rich, whose non-performing assets total Rs 12 lakh crore, loans of Rs 3.5 lakh crore have been waived," Gandhi said.

He also targeted the government in over the alleged chit fund scam, civil supply scam and the allegations against the chief minister's son,

"Chit fund companies committed a fraud of Rs 5,000 crore under the protection of the government. People's hard-earned money was snatched. Sixty people lost their lives, but no action was taken," Gandhi alleged.

"Even Pakistan's (former) prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) has been jailed for the Panama Papers scandal but no action has been taken against Raman Singh's son Abhishek Singh, who was named in the Panama Papers," he said.

The BJP has denied these allegations in the past.

Gandhi concluded his two-day campaign in Bhilai Wednesday, ahead of the second phase of the Assembly polls on November 20.

The first phase of polling was held on November 12 and the results will be announced on December 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, November 14 2018. 21:55 IST