Modi's BJP locks horns with Congress over Rafale deal

INDIA'S ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and main opposition Indian National Congress have locked horns over the Rafale jet deal. On Tuesday (9), the Congress accused prime minister Narendra Modi of blocking an investigation into the deal to shield himself and challenged the government to set up a parliamentary committee to uncover the alleged truth.

The BJP, on the other hand, has accused the Congress of turning a blind eye to corruption before 2014 when a government led by it was in power.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera asked, “Why is the government not ordering an investigation if the BJP thinks the Congress is at fault? Are they fools that they are saving the Congress by stonewalling inquiries?

He added, “Order a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) now. And make the electoral bonds public; everything will be clear, which party got money from what sources.”

He said this after the ruling party accused the grand-old party of benefiting from Rafale kickbacks when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power (2004-2014).

On Monday (8), French investigative journal Mediapart said that India’s premier investigating agency – Central Bureau of Investigation – and the Enforcement Directorate has had evidence since 2018 that kickbacks were paid by Dassault Aviation to a middleman between 2007 and 2012 to help it secure the deal but the agencies did not pursue the issue.

The BJP capitalised on the revelation of kickbacks being paid to accuse the Congress of corruption but stopped short of explaining the inaction that the central agencies took since 2018.

“On October 11, 2018, the Mauritius government handed over documents of payments made in the deal to the CBI. And on October 23, 2018, Modi raided the CBI office in the middle of the night and removed CBI director Alok Verma,” Khera told a news conference on Tuesday. “Modi colluded with the corrupt and hence had to protect the corrupt,” he said.

The Congress has alleged that Verma was removed as the CBI chief in the middle of the night to stop an investigation into the Rafale deal.

Nullifying the BJP’s charges, Khera said: “The French news portal has reported that Dassault hired Sushen Gupta in 2000 when the Vajpayee government was in office. Payments were made to him in 2002 and 2004 during the BJP regime as well. Middlemen are regime agnostic, the services continued.”

BJP slams Gandhis

On Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Sambit Pal mocked the Congress saying the INC stood for ‘I Need Commission’. “Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Robert Vadra, all say ‘I need commission’,” Patra said.

“Let Rahul Gandhi answer from Italy - why did you and your party try to spread lies about Rafale all these years? Now it has been revealed that their own government was in power in 2007 to 2012 when commissions were paid, in which a middleman's name has also come up,” Patra added.

Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi also posted tweets sharing news articles on the Rafale report.