Rahul Gandhi acting as foreign firms' lobbyist: BJP counters Rafale allegations

New Delhi, Feb 12: The BJP on Tuesday dismissed Rahul Gandhi's allegations against Narendra Modi on the Rafale jet deal as height of shamelessness and irresponsibility, and asserted that the e-mail he cited to criticise the prime minister referred to some chopper deal and not the purchase of the fighter aircraft.

Senior party leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also put Airbus, whose internal e-mail was cited by the Congress president, in a dock, saying the European aircraft manufacturer is under a needle of suspicion in deals finalised during the previous Congress-led government.

He asked Gandhi to answer how he got hold of the company's internal communication and accused him of acting as a "lobbyist" of foreign firms.

Speaking to reporters soon after Gandhi's press conference, Prasad also took strong exception to the Congress leader charging Modi with "treason".

The BJP leader said his party had serious differences with former prime ministers, who came from the Gandhi family, over several "murky" defence deals signed during their term but never accused them of treason.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) has thrown muck at his own face by abusing our honest prime minister. We will expose his lies before the public," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, Gandhi accused Modi of acting as a "middleman" of Anil Ambani in the Rafale jet deal, as he cited the e-mail to claim the businessman was aware of the MoU before India and France signed it.

He also accused Modi of "treason".

PTI