A day after French journal Mediapart made fresh claims that the Rafale manufacturer paid £6.4 million to a middleman between 2007 to 2012, a slugfest broke about between Congress and BJP.
Referring to the claims, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (9) asked his party colleagues not to be afraid of fighting against the “corrupt” central government as truth was with them in every step.
Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, “When the truth is with you in every step, then what is there to worry about? My Congress colleagues – keep fighting like this against the corrupt central government. Don’t stop, don’t get tired, don’t be afraid."
On Monday (8), Mediapart reported that Dassault Aviation, manufacturer of the Rafale fighter aircraft, had paid £6.4m to “intermediary” Sushen Gupta’s Mauritius company Interstellar Technologies between 2007 and 2012.
Publishing “bogus” receipts allegedly raised by firms linked to Gupta, the report claimed that the office of the Attorney General of Mauritius sent them to the CBI on October 11, 2018 — it also shared an image of the letter from the Mauritius AG’s office to the CBI.
Following the report, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had launched a scathing attack on the Congress leadership, saying that the INC (Indian National Congress) should be renamed “I Need Commission”.
He also alleged that Congress’ dissatisfaction with the cut on offer was behind the failed negotiations when it was in power.
“He should respond to this from Italy.” He further alleged that corruption has become “homeless” after the BJP came to power, and its address is now 10 Janpath, referring to the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi," he said.
The Congress hit back at the BJP, saying that the government has launched “operation cover-up” and demanded to know as to why it had not probed the entire episode so far.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that his party has been seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the deal, and asked as to why the government has not agreed to this.
In April, Mediapart claimed that Gupta, chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case, had supplied classified documents to Dassault Aviation on the activities of the Indian negotiating team.
In the past, Dassault Aviation and the ministry of defence have rejected allegations of any corruption in the Rafale contract.
In December 2018, the Supreme Court dismissed a bunch of petitions demanding a court-monitored investigation into the deal. In November 2019, it rejected review petitions in the matter.
Damian Talbot