Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday once again raised the slogan "chowkidar chor hai", and promised that if voted to power, his party would ensure that Rafale fighter jets are manufactured in India.
Addressing campaign rallies at Sihora and Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, he continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to him as the chowkidar (watchman) who brought bad name to all other chowkidars.
"This is a beautiful slogan. Chwokidar...," he said, speaking at Sihora in Jabalpur district. To which the people replied, "Chor hai (is a thief)."
The Congress chief reiterated his allegation that for the benefit of industrialist Anil Ambani, Modi "gave Rs 30,000 crore" to the former's company.
The price of the Rafale fighter jet increased from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,600 crore under the contract signed by the Modi government, and the contract to manufacture the jets was given to Ambani's firm instead of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), he further alleged.
"If Congress is voted to power, I will ensure that Rafale jets are made in India and not in France. The new deal will protect the interest of India and not of France," the Congress chief said.
He also dared Modi to hold a minimum 20-minute debate on the Rafale deal and corruption in the country.
Had the Rafale jets been made in India, Jabalpur, which has an ordnance factory, would have benefited and over one lakh youths would have got jobs, Gandhi claimed.
"The Rafale fighter jet contract was snatched from HAL, which is expert in making Mig, Miraj and Jaguar fighter planes. I will ensure that the Congress government recovers the Rs 30,000 crore gift of Modi to Anil Ambani," he said.
Due to demonetisation and flawed implementation of the GST, people's purchasing power diminished, leading to small and medium-scale firms shutting down or cutting jobs, he said.
"The money I will recover from people like Anil Ambani will be used for Nyay scheme, where every eligible family will get Rs 72,000 annually," the Congress president said, referring to his party's promised minimum income scheme.
The Congress president on Monday had expressed "regret" in the Supreme Court over his remarks in connection with the Rafale judgement.
The court on April 15 had stated that in its Rafale verdict there was no occasion for it to make a mention of the contemptuous observation that "chowkidar Narendra Modi chor hain", as has been claimed by Gandhi.
Gandhi has been using the phrase 'chowkidar chor hai' (the (country's) watchman is a thief) to target Modi over the Rafale deal.
At Shahdol, Gandhi said that "one chowkidar has brought disrespect to all the chowkidars".
"All chowkidars are not thieves," he added.
"Narendra Modi has looted the poor and helped multi- billionaires like Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya who escaped with India's wealth," he said.
After these elections, "no farmer will go to jail for loan dues," he said, adding that his party will introduce a separate budget for the agricultural sector.
Under the Nyay scheme, women from five crore poor families will get Rs 6,000 per month, which would be a surgical strike on poverty, the Congress chief said.
The scheme will help Madhya Pradesh a lot as the state has a large number of poor families, he said.
"We stand by our promises," Gandhi said, pointing out that his party's newly-elected governments waived farm loans in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, as promised before the assembly polls.
"Half the farmers in these three states have already reaped the benefit of loan waiver and remaining dues will be written off after the general elections," he added.
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