Rahul pits PM against Hollande, asks him to clarify 'theft' charges

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter jet deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked him to clarify the charges of 'theft' levelled by former French president François Hollande.

Speaking to ANI, the Congress chief accused the Prime Minister of stealing the money of jawans to fill the pocket of Anil Ambani through the controversial fighter jet deal.

"France's former president (Hollande) has called Narendra Modi a thief. Now, he has to clarify why is he (Hollande) calling him a thief," Rahul told ANI during his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Amethi.

Rahul also pressed for the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the deal, so that the truth behind the Rs. 58,000 crores deal, signed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, in 2016 could come out.

"Prime Minister delivers speeches everywhere, but speaks nothing on the Rafale deal or about Anil Ambani. This is only because 'chowkidaar ne Anil Ambani se chori karwayi'," he alleged.

Earlier in the day, while addressing a rally in Amethi, Gandhi also attacked the Prime Minister Modi government for its employment promises. He said that the NDA government assured to give two crore jobs to people every year, but that promise has not been fulfilled.

The controversy over the Rafale jet intensified after the former French president Hollande, in an interview to a French media house, claimed that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence's name as the offset partner for Dassault Aviation.