Congress president Rahul Gandhi is in no mood to leave Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their association in alleged Rafale fighter jet scam. In a latest tweet posted on Saturday, Gandhi has attacked the Union Defence Minister by claiming that due to the Rafale deal, ‘Indian tax payers will pay Narendra Modi’s friend’s joint venture Rs one lakh crore to maintain 36 Rafale Scam jets’ for the next 50 years’.
Gandhi had alleged about the corruption and minister’s involvement in the alleged Rafale scam the Monsoon Session of the Parliament during the ‘No Confidence Motion’. Taking a jibe on the alleged scam, Gandhi tweeted on Saturday, “Over the next 50 years, Indian Tax Payers will pay Mr 56’s friend’s JV, 100,000 Cr to maintain 36 #RafaleScam jets, India is buying.”
He further added that the ‘Union Minister will as usual hold a press conference and deny the charges’. He also attached an image to support his tweet. He added, “Raksha Mantri (Union Defence Minister) will address a press conference to deny this, as usual. But the truth is in the presentation I’m attaching.”
In the attachment, Rahul shared, the image clearly states Reliance as a ‘key offset partner with Dassault Aviation for 36 Rafael Aircraft worth Rs 30,000 crore – Largest Offset contract in India’. The Congress president attached the image which was taken from a Reliance Infrastructure Investors Presentation.
According to the image attached with the tweet, the ‘Lifecycle opportunity is estimated at Rs 1 lakh crore over 50 years.” Gandhi latest tweet is an addition to the accusation on Friday, in which the party accused the Union Minister of ‘lying’ on Reliance Defence Limited’s offset contract. The Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam also had stated that the State unit of Maharashtra will take the Rafale scam onto the streets soon.