Patna: The Congress on Wednesday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government as the "grandmother of all corruption" and said it will organise rallies at all district headquarters in the state from September 6 to 15 to protest against the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with France and create awareness about "at least a Rs 43,000 crore scam".
The party also plans to distribute pamphlets to highlight the "scam" as the Congress feels people in Bihar's hinterlands may not have much information about Rafale. "What Modi ji and his government are indulging in is the grandmother of all corruption cases," All India Congress Committee's (AICC) Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil said. "They've been caught in the Rafale scam that could be worth at least Rs 43,000 crore, and are now trying to hush it up."
Gohil was speaking after attending a meeting of senior Congressmen. Asserting that his allegations are backed by documentary proof, he said his party has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Probe but the Centre is refusing it.
"Rafale fighter aircraft purchase was initiated during United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule. We were in the process to buy 126 of them at Rs 526.1 crore each. We were also discussing technology transfer so that they could be built at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). However we lost power at that time," Gohil said. "The BJP-led government came to power. Modi ji became Prime Minister and went to France on a tour and announced the deal with Dassault, which makes Rafale, to buy 36 fighter planes. Each aircraft will cost over Rs 1670.7 crore each and industrialist Anil Ambani's company Ambani Aeronautics will make the rest of them, instead of HAL," Gohil said.
The Congress leader said the government says the logic behind the price rise is that it would include accessories, missiles and other things. However, there is documentary proof that there has been no change in the technical bid.
Gohil also asserted that the Rafale deal would be among the major issues in the 2019 general elections.
Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president in-charge Kaukab Quadri, AICC Bihar secretary Alpesh Thakor, Rajya Sabha member Akhilesh Prasad Singh, MLCs Madan Mohan Jha and Prem Chandra Mishra, former Kerala and Nagaland governor Nikhil Kumar, Harkhu Jha, H.K. Verma and several others were present.
