Rahul Gandhi on Rafale deal: ‘Clear that PMO carried out parallel negotiations’

Launching an attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Rafale deal, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Friday accused the PMO of running “parallel negotiations” with the French side. “With the media report today it is black and white that the PM himself was carrying out parallel negotiations with the French. We have been saying there should be a JPC, an inquiry. Now the (then) minister himself has said it,” Gandhi said at a press briefing at AICC headquarters in New Delhi.

 Official documents available to The Hindu revealed that the Defence Ministry in a note dated November 24, 2015, protested that the position taken by the PMO was “contradictory to the stand taken by MoD and the negotiating team.” On September 27, 2016, The Indian Express had also reported about a Defence Ministry official who raised questions about the deal’s benchmark price and put his objections on record.

“It is clear that the PM has bypassed the process and stolen over Rs 30,000 crore and given it to his friend Anil Ambani,” Gandhi told the media. Referring to the media report, Gandhi quoted a Defence Secretary saying: “It is desirable that such discussions be avoided by the PMO as it undermines our negotiating position seriously.”

Courtesy : The Indian Express