Correct your facts: Congress on Robert Vadra's involvement in Rafale deal

The Congress party on Tuesday rebutted the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegations that Robert Vadra's company was keen on getting a share in the offset of the Rafale deal.

Randeep Surjewala, the spokesperson of the Congress party, said, "When was this (Rafale jet deal) tender opened? That is why I am saying that to save one lie, they are speaking up 100 lies. We issued the tender in August 2007, invited international bids, and the bids were opened on December 12, 2012, and not in 2008. Correct your facts on this."

"On March 13, 2014, the UPA government made Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as the Offset partner, this Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier has said," Surjewala added.

The BJP had, on Monday, claimed that the Congress party scrapped the deal after their party president's brother-in-law backed-company was not accepted as a 'middleman'.

The Congress spokesperson also said, "Congress party negotiated Rs 526 crore per Rafale jet on December 12, 2012. Why did you (the BJP) cancel that contract and bought the same jet at Rs 1,670 crore? The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had earlier chosen HAL as the Offset partner. However, Prime Minister Modi scrapped the UPA plan and introduced a private Offset partner. Doesn't this prove that you are not the country's Prime Minister and are Ambani's Prime Minister?"

While addressing a press conference on Monday, Union Minister and BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, "The Congress intended to make arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and Robert Vadra's company as middlemen in the Rafale deal. But when this did not happen, they scrapped the deal and now they are trying to take revenge for the same by jeopardising the deal finalised by the NDA."

The controversial deal was signed by the NDA government with the French government in 2016 after scrapping negotiations made by the UPA government earlier.