Rahul Gandhi orders workers to keep Rafale issue alive

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has asked party leaders to ensure that the conversation on the Rafale deal does not die down.

In a meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the party held on Saturday, the Rafale deal was discussed in great detail.

Party sources said that the CWC felt that BJP might employ the debate around the NRC to ensure that the focus on the Rafale deal is diverted. Gandhi is said to have asked party colleagues to ensure that the issues is raked up enough across all platforms.

Former defence minister AK Antony spoke at length about the defence deal during the meeting. The Centre's refusal to speak about the deal, the awarding of the contract to a private company over the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and PM Narendra Modi's alleged violation of the defence procedure and the cabinet committees on contract and price negotiations were discussed during the meet. Leaders of the CWC feel that the Rafale deal could prove to be the NDA's Achilles Heel and could be employed by the Congress to pin the BJP in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

The Congress, in the meeting, also decided to take on the Centre on the issue of corruption by launching a public campaign, 'Jan Andolan', that will highlight the bank scams, Rafale deal and the "bad" state of the economy.

(With agency inputs)