It looks like the ruling Congress in Rajasthan has decided to leave no stones unturned in raising the Rafale deal issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to corner the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
After flying kites imprinted with Rafale image on Makar Sakranti, the Congress on Sunday flagged off a rath with Rafale aircraft shaped balloon on top of it from the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) headquarters in Jaipur. The rath will tour the state and tell the people the story about the deal.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM and RPCC chief Sachin Pilot flagged off the rath. It will pass through every village, town across the state and the workers riding it will brief the onlookers about the deal. The rath is also carrying a hoarding depicting five questions on the deal.
"The purpose of taking out a jan chetna (public awareness) campaign on the rath is to tell the people how the Modi-led NDA government did corruption in finalising Rafale deal. It is a scam done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his friend Anil Ambani," said Pankaj Sharma, head of Congress Public Redressal committee, who coined the idea.
When asked how he came up with the Rafale rath idea, Sharma said that it was the best way to tell the people why Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue. "(PM) Modi is evading replying to the questions raised by Rahul Gandhi. He raised the issue on public platforms and in the Parliament too but Modi had no answer to it. Therefore, we will take the questions among the people and expose Modi," said Sharma.
Earlier, on Sharma's initiative the party workers had flown kites with images and messages on Rafale deal. Over 20,000 kites were flown by the Congress workers and public across Jaipur during Makar Sankranti on January 14. Also, Congress had put up huge posters on Rafale issue during Rahul Gandhi's farmers' rally held recently in Jaipur.
The Congress has been aggressively pushing the Rafale deal as its political pitch against the BJP-led government under Modi at the Centre.
The party has continued with its stand that the deal reeks of corruption and that the PM is at the centre of it.
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 "Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM Sachin Pilot")
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