Rafale War Between Congress, BJP Intensifies; Government Questions Robert Vadra's Role, Kapil Sibal Gives Date by Date Account
he Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are at loggerheads over the Rafale deal. The BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra questioned the alleged involvement of Robert Vadra’s close friend Sanjay Bhandari’
New Delhi, September 25: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are at loggerheads over the Rafale deal. The BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra questioned the alleged involvement of Robert Vadra’s "close friend" Sanjay Bhandari’s in the proposed Rafale deal by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. While addressing a press conference, Patra said, “Rafale documents were recovered from Robert Vadra's close friend Sanjay Bhandari during a raid in 2016 at his house, how did these confidential documents reach there?” He further added that Bhandari's company 'offset India solutions' (OIS) was red flagged in 2014 by Modi Government.
Meanwhile, the Congress has increased its attacks on the central government over the deal. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal while interacting with media questioned the offset contract worth Rs 30,000 crore given to Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence Limited, the company which was incorporated On March 28 2015. Sibal said, “On March 25, 2015, Eric Trappier stated that contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was finalised.”
The senior Congress leader also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing the deal on April 10, 2015, in spite of Foreign Secretary of India stated two days back that the Rafale deal was not on the table during the PM's visit to France. Sibal while hitting out at the PM said that Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley or Nirmala Sitharaman none of them were aware of the new deal announced by the PM. Arun Jaitley Poses 15 Questions to Rahul Gandhi on Rafale Deal; Read Complete List Here
Yesterday, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Gajendra Shekhawat said Vadra used his influence in the erstwhile government to attempt offset partner contract being awarded to OIS. Congress has denied the allegations levelled by the BJP, calling it an attempt by the ruling party to deflect attention from the statements of former French President Francois Hollande. Assets worth Rs 42.61 crores of Bhandari was seized in an Income Tax (IT) raid in 2016.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2018 05:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).