Rahul slams Centre on Rafale deal, says no one can escape karma

New Delhi:Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked the Centre over the Rafale fighter jet deal, saying "karma is the ledger of one's action and no one can escape it."

His remark comes after a French media report claimed that 1.1 million Euros were paid to a "middleman" by the aircraft manufacturer, a charge denied by the BJP.Mr Gandhi tweeted, ' Karma is the ledger of one's action and no one can escape it'.

On Monday, the grand-old party held a press conference and demanded clarification from Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the said report and a comprehensive probe into the revelations about the deal.The Congress said Mr Gandhi's often repeated allegations of corruption in the deal were proved correct after the French media report.

Ghost of Rafale will keep coming haunting legacy bearers of Manohar Parrikar till truth comes out: Girish Chodankar

Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar on Tuesday said that ghost of Rafale will keep coming haunting legacy of former Defence Minister Late Manohar Parrikar till the truth came out.

In a statement, he said, 'With the sensational revelations made by the French News Portal “Mediapart” which have now brought to the fore the existence of middleman, payment of commission and red flags shown by the French Anti-Corruption Agency Agence Francaise Anticorruption (AFA) in the Rafale Deal; it is now pertinent to investigate the role of former Defence Minister late Manohar Parrikar especially in context to the Audiotape leak of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.'

He said the revelations made by Health Minister in the leaked audio tape that the secret files of the controversial Rafale Deal were in the cupboards of the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar gathered significance and importance once again after the fresh revelations by the French Agency.

'Former Defence Minister always appeared uncomfortable in replying to questions pertaining to the Rafale Deal. He was in Goa selling fish from a government fish stall on the day when the Rafale Deal was fixed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris. His overall behaviour regarding the multi crore deals always remained suspicious,' Mr Chodankar claimed.

'The pro-active BJP Government at the Centre as well as the State which quickly uses investigative agencies such as CBI, ED, NIA and others against the opposition remained silent and completely ignored the revelations made by the Health Minister Vishwajit Rane that the Secret Files of the Rafale Deal were in the custody of Manohar Parrikar. This formula was adopted by the ruling BJP with a fear of strong retaliations from late Manohar Parrikar,' Mr Chodankar alleged.

'The French Investigative Agency has now revealed that after signing of the deal in 2016, Dassault, the manufacturer of Rafale fighter jets paid 1.1 million euro to a middleman allegedly Defsys Solutions. The deal was to buy 36 Rafale Aircrafts for almost Rs 60,000 crore,' the Congress leader said.

'There is a saying “Truth Always Prevails”. The truth was revealed by our National Leader Rahul Gandhi with a honest slogan “Chowkidar Chor Hai”. Now once again the words of Rahul Gandhi have come true. It is loud and clear that huge commission was paid to a middleman after which all was not well with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

We once again urge that the BJP Government at the centre must accept the demand of the Congress Party to investigate the matter through Joint Parliamentary Committee. We hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dares to face the JPC,' Mr Chodankar said.(UNI)