Johnson Cherian.
The Congress president was reacting to reports of the Defence Ministry’s formal process to buy 110 fighter jets for the IAF through a global tendering process.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that his friends raced to find strategic partners after the government re-tendered $15 billion fighter jet deal.
He was citing a media report that stated that India was seeking over 100 new fighter jets in the world’s largest deal.
“Modi Scam Alert! $ 15 Billion fighter jet deal re-tendered. PM’s friends race to tie up strategic partners. Rafale, 40,000 crore loss to exchequer was ‘Sayonara’ money to French, so PM could re-tender contract and favour friends,” he alleged on Twitter.
Mr. Gandhi had earlier attacked the Prime Minister and his government over the Rafale deal, alleging that it was a scam as the dispensation was not disclosing details of the deal and was neither making public the price of the aircraft.
He had also accused Mr. Modi of helping his friends in the defence sector get the contract without any experience after ignoring the public-sector HAL, which was to originally make the Rafale jets indigenously in transfer of technology.
The Congress had also alleged that the government has brought the aircraft at thrice the price that the UPA regime had negotiated with the French company.
