Modi govt paying Rs 1100 cr extra per Rafale jet, claims Rahul

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday once again made a scathing attack at the Centre for alleged wrongdoing in the Rafale aircraft deal.

Citing Rafale manufacturer Dassault's 2016 annual report, Gandhi said that the Narendra Modi government is purchasing per Rafale jet at the rate of Rs. 1670 crore while the Congress-led Manmohan Singh (MMS) government had finalised the deal at the rate of Rs. 570 crore per Rafale jet.

"Dassault called RM's lie and released prices paid per RAFALE plane in report: Qatar = 1319 Cr, MODI = 1670 Cr, MMS = 570 Cr. "1100 Crore per plane or 36,000 Crore i.e 10 pc of our Defence budget, in the pocket. Meanwhile, our Army begs our Govt.for money (sic)," the Congress leader said on Twitter.

Dassault Aviation, the French company that manufactured the fighter jets, had called the "lie" of "RM" (Raksha Mantri or Defence Minister) Nirmala Sitharaman by releasing the price of the aircraft., he alleged.

Gandhi highlighted the price the BJP government paid for the fighter jets, the figure finalised by the erstwhile UPA regime led by Manmohan Singh for purchasing the aircraft and the amount Qatar had paid for the same.
Congress has in the past as well accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre of wrongdoings in the Rafale jet deal.

In February, Gandhi posed eight questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the deal and alleged that the Prime Minister personally went to Paris and changed the deal.

OneIndia News