Heating up the Monsoon Session of the Parliament on Rafale fighter jet Congress president Rahul Gandhi had accused the Narendra Modi government for corrupt practices. Now the Maharashtra unit of the party is all set to take the issue on the streets. State Congress president and MP Ashok Chavan said that party will hold a public protest on the issue in Mumbai on Monday.
Chavan said on Thursday, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had willfully misled the nation during the debate in the Parliament.” Questioned the acquisition aspects of the jet, Chavan said that the confidentiality clause was restricted with only to classified information, but Union Defence Minister is answerable on the purchase aspects of the jets.
Along with Maharashtra, the party is planning similar protests in other states as well, reports Indian Express. Adding more on the issue of acquisition of fighter jets, Chavan said, “In 2012, the Congress had agreed for a payment of Rs 526 crore for the purchase of one fighter jet. The Modi government, on the other hand, will be paying Rs 1,670 crore per jet, which is three times higher. They are giving Rs 41,000 crore more. There is corruption in the deal.”
The state president re-iterated the allegations posed by Gandhi on Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group‘s involvement in the deal, which was earlier refuted by the Ambani in the letter written to Gandhi. However, Sanjay Nirupam had called this a big scam and had questioned Ambani’s expertise. Gandhi had earlier raised questions in Lok Sabha on why the Union government did not reveal the commercial cost of jets’ deal.