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Why don't you ask PM about Rafale deal, Jay Shah: Rahul Gandhi

The party had also accused the government of by-passing defence procurement procedure to help Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Limited

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Congress VP Rahul Gandhi
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Raking up the issue of Rafale fighter aircraft deal again, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having 'changed the entire Rafale deal to help a businessman".

This came two days after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) held a press conference alleging a 'huge scam' in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation of France and accused Modi government of compromising 'national interest' and 'national security'.

The party had also accused the government of by-passing defence procurement procedure to help Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Limited.

Hitting at the government over the same issue, Gandhi, who was talking to reporters after addressing a meeting of his party's newly-formed wing All India Unorganised Workers Congress (AIUWC), said, "I happily answer all your questions fortnightly. Why don't you question Prime Minister Modi on the Rafale deal, or on Amit Shah's son. Why don't you ask frankly about these. Why don't you question the PM who changed the entire Rafale deal to help a businessman?"

Gandhi also put out tweets taking a jibe at the government over Rafale deal and alleged a 'loot'.

"Modiji nice touch removing the suit. What about the loot?," he tweeted tagging a report on the Rafale deal.

He also tweeted, "Can you explain 'Reliance' on someone with nil experience in aerospace for Rafale deal? Self 'Reliance' is obviously a critical aspect of 'Make in India'."

Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) has already said allegations regarding Rafale deal are 'baseless and unfounded'. Regarding the allegation that Ambani, owner of Reliance Defence Limited, was present in France with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2015 when he announced the deal for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, RDL said, Anil Ambani is a member of Indo-French CEO Forum and in the said meeting, more than 20 Indian CEOs were present.

BJP national president Amit Shah's son Jay Shah's company was alleged to have witnessed a quantum jump in turnover since Modi government came to power. Shah's son later filed a defamation case against the news website that published it, and BJP dismissed the allegation by Congress saying there was no question of corruption in Jay Shah's company.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had alleged that on February 16, 2017, Reliance Defence Limited through its subsidiary Reliance Defence and Aerospace Limited inked a joint venture with Dassault Aviation for defence production and that the company's website R. Infra reflects that they are undertaking offset obligations of 30,000 crore with Dassault Aviation for 36 Rafale aircrafts.

The company said that In the official press statement issued by Dassault and Reliance on 03 October 2016, it is clearly mentioned that offfset obligations are to be undertaken by Dassault Reliance Aerospace joint venture company and not by Reliance Defence.

"Reliance Group does not have any company by the name of Reliance Defence & Aerospace Ltd. Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd will be only one of the key players in the discharge of offset obligations.

It may also be relevant to note that offsets of 30,000 Cr covers obligations of other OEMs including Thales, Safran and MBDA and not of Dassault alone, the statement said.

Regarding the Congress question as to why did the Prime Minister promote the interests of one industrial group- Reliance Defence Limited, which has led to the company tying up and entering into a joint venture with Dassault Aviation, the RLD said that the Joint Venture between Reliance Aerostructure Ltd and Dassault Aviation is a bilateral agreement between two private companies and Dassault Aviation selected Reliance Aerostructure Ltd as its joint venture partner. "The Indian Government has no role to play in this," it said.

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