Rafale deal biggest example of crony capitalism: Cong

Congress on Friday accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of “lying” on the role played by Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence in executing the Rs 30,000 crore “offset contract” as part of the Rafale deal.

The contentious Indo-French deal is for buying 36 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.

In February 2018 Sitharaman claimed, “Offset contract has not been awarded by Dassault Aviation (manufacturer of Rafale), but a year back the French company in its annual report said that the Indian contract led to the creation of a joint venture with Reliance Group to manage the offsets.”

“The simple question is who is lying,” Randeep Singh Surjewala, in-charge of the AICC Communication Department, told reporters here. He asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the issue.

Surjewala said Reliance Defence Limited had announced on February 16, 2017, the formation of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited, a joint venture company that will he a key player in execution of offset obligations under the Rs 60,000 crore Rafale deal.

He said Reliance had also claimed to have secured the life-cycle cost contract for the 36 Rafale fighter aircraft to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore.

Congress is seeking to corner the Modi government on the Rafale deal by targeting it on a daily basis. The party's state units are also addressing press conferences in various state capitals. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been questioning the fighter aircraft deal through his tweets almost every day.

“Dear Trolls, I apologise for my earlier tweet in which I stated Mr 56’s friend’s JV, received 4 Billion US$s of “offset” contracts. I forgot to add the 16 Billion US$ RAFALE “lifecycle” contract. 20 BILLION US$ is the actual benefit. So Sorry,” Gandhi said on Twitter on Friday.

Zero experience Co

Surjewala claimed Reliance Defence Limited had zero experience in manufacturing fighter aircraft.

“Reliance Defence Limited had been constituted 12 days before the announcement of the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in France on April 10, 2015,” the Congress leader said, adding that the company did not even have a license to manufacture fighter aircraft.

He claimed that the fighter aircraft manufacturing license was given to Reliance Aerostructure Limited on February 22, 2016, by the Defence Ministry when the company did not even own any land or building.

“What is even more surprising is the fact that even Reliance Aerostructure Ltd was incorporated on April 24, 2015 – just 14 days after the announcement of the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft by the prime minister,” Surjewala claimed.