Rafale deal: Rahul accuses Modi of 'selling' IAF, claims truth is coming out from within govt

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "sold" the Indian Air Force to benefit a businessman in the Rafale contract, and asserted that the truth about the multi-billion dollar deal was coming out from within the government despite attempts to hide it.

Gandhi's fresh round of attack on the Rafale issue comes a day after he met Goa Chief Minister and former defence minister Manohar Parrikar and ahead of the Parliament's budget session, starting Thursday.

Addressing a Youth Congress event here, Gandhi hit out at the Modi government over the issue of alleged corruption in the fighter jet deal and said voices bringing out the truth were coming out from within the dispensation and no one can silence them.

"I understand that you (Modi) cannot sleep in the night, I know that when you sleep, you see Anil Ambani's photo, you see the photo of Rafale aircraft, you see the photo of IAF martyrs," Gandhi said.

"This is happening due to the Congress that has shown you the truth. The entire country knows that you have sold the Indian Air Force," the Congress chief said in his over half-an-hour speech laced with barbs at Modi on multiple issues such as Rafale, crony capitalism, farm loan waiver, and jobs among others.

Gandhi said he met Parrikar on Wednesday.

"Parrikar ji had himself said that while changing the deal, the prime minister did not ask the defence minister," he said, without making it clear whether he was referring to Wednesday's meeting or earlier reported remarks by Parrikar.

The Goa Chief Minister has categorically denied discussing Rafale issue with Gandhi in the meeting on Wednesday.

"Nothing whatsoever about Rafale was even mentioned in your meeting with me," Parrikar asserted while attacking Gandhi for using his courtesy visit to him for "petty political gains".

Gandhi alleged that Modi snatched away employment from the youth of Karnataka and Odisha because he wanted to ensure that his "friend" Anil Ambani makes a profit of Rs 30,000 crore.

The government as well as Ambani have strongly denied any wrongdoing in the fighter jet agreement with France.

Gandhi alleged that the "56-inch PM" spoke in Parliament for long, but when asked questions on the Rafale deal, could not look him in the eye and kept looking elsewhere.

He also alleged that former CBI chief Alok Verma was removed to stop the truth in the Rafale deal from coming out.

Talking about Verma's ouster, he said: "Just after 1-2 hours of the Supreme Court verdict, I got a call from Kharge ji who said 'Rahul ji the CBI committee has been called within an hour and Narendra Modi ji wants that discussions take place so that the CBI chief is removed'."