Dassault called govt's 'lie' by releasing price of Rafale deal, says Rahul

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday again trained his guns on the government over the Rafale fighter jets deal, alleging that it had caused a loss of Rs 360 billion to the state exchequer even as the Army "begs" for more money.

He also alleged that Dassault Aviation, the French company that manufactured the fighter jets, had called the "lie" of "RM" (Raksha Mantri or Defence Minister) Nirmala Sitharaman by releasing the price of the aircraft.

Gandhi highlighted the price the BJP government paid for the fighter jets, the figure finalised by the erstwhile UPA regime led by Manmohan Singh for purchasing the aircraft and the amount Qatar had paid for the same.

"Dassault called RM's lie and released prices paid per RAFALE plane in report: Qatar = 1319 Cr (13.19 billion), MODI = 1670 Cr (16.7 billion), MMS = 570 Cr (5.7 billion)

"1100 Cr (11 billion) per plane or 36,000 Cr (360 billion) i.e 10 pc of our Defence budget, in the pocket. Meanwhile, our Army begs our Govt. for money (sic)," the Congress leader said on Twitter.

Gandhi has been attacking the BJP-led government over the defence deal, alleging that it has caused a huge loss to the state exchequer. He has also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue.