Narendra Modi Counter-Attacks Congress Over Rafale Issue, Alleges Them of Having Relations With Middleman Christian Michel
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched a counter-attack on the Congress over the Rafale issue. He accused the Congress of stalling the deal. The Prime Minister said that the alleged middleman Christian Michel was close to the Congress first family.
New Delhi, January 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched a counter-attack on the Congress over the ongoing Rafale issue, by accusing them of stalling the (defence) deals during their regime. The Prime Minister said that the alleged middleman Christian Michel was close to the Congress' first family. He further added that the people deserved to know the role played by him in the 10-year delay over the Rafale deal during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. AgustaWestland Scam: Delhi High Court Agrees to Hear MoD on Arbitration Proceedings; Next Hearing on February 28.
While interacting with booth level BJP workers of Tamil Nadu through video-conferencing, the PM accused the previous UPA government of damaging the armed forces. During his interaction, he also raked up the Bofors scam. Responding to a question, he said, “In their government, procurement would only happen if there was a deal. If there was no deal, their approach was to simply stop buying anything for the armed forces.”
Earlier this month, during his Odisha visit to lay the foundation stone for four- laning of various national highway projects, PM Modi raked up the AgustaWestland scam case. Speaking at the event, the Prime minister alleged the Congress of serving middleman Christian Michel instead of the nation. He also promised to punish all those involved in the scam.
Recently reports surfaced that alleged middlemen in AgustaWestland scam Michel and Guido Haschke were also pitching for Eurofighter Typhoon in the proposed Rafale deal by the UPA government. According to a report published by India Today, Michel along with Guido Haschke was strategised for Rafale's competitor Eurofighter to win the deal in its favour. During raids at middleman Haschke's residence and offices, a ‘strategy paper’ was seized. The paper revealed that both are trying to pitch for Eurofighter Typhoon.
(With inputs from PTI)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 10, 2019 09:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).