Rahul attacks PM on Rafale; alleges he 'sold' IAF, took away jobs from youth

Launching a blistering attack on Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the prime minister had "sold" the Indian Air Force and asserted that the truth was coming out from within the government despite attempts to "hide" it.

Addressing the concluding session of the Youth Congress nationwide public outreach campaign -- Yuva Kranti Yatra, Gandhi hit out the Centre over the issue of alleged corruption in the fighter jet deal and said voices bringing out the truth were coming out from within the government 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.

"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 Goa Chief Minister and former defence Minister Manohar 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 remarks by Parrikar.

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'."
Attacking Modi, he said, "The prime minister has worked on dividing the country, burnt the Northeast, Kashmir, made people fight in Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala."
According to Gandhi, the Congress has taken a historic step and decided on giving people right to minimum income. "All poor people will get benefit directly into their accounts and there will be no middlemen."