Modi, Ambani will get convicted in Rafale case: Rahul

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Anil Ambani will be “convicted” if there is an investigation into the Rafale deal, Congress President Rahul Gandhi claimed on Wednesday, while refusing to spell out clearly whether his party would cancel the deal if it were to come to power.

Gandhi, who has been vociferous in terming Modi “corrupt” and accusing him of “handing over” Rs 30,000 crore to Ambani, said the Congress party does not question the capability of the Rafale aircraft but has only been raising questions about the financial details of the deal.

“As far as Rafale aircraft is concerned, we don’t think there are questions to the capability of the aircraft. The only question that we are raising is that Mr Narendra Modi and Mr Anil Ambani have stolen Rs 30,000 crore from the IAF. The only question that we are asking is that there should be an investigation and that people should be punished,” he told a press conference here.

To a question on what the Congress government would do with regard to Rafale deal if it comes to power post-2019 elections, Gandhi said he cannot answer the question since it was a “technical decision” and the party does not have access to documents related to the deal.

“(If) we have an investigation, I am absolutely, 100 per cent, certain that on the back of that investigation Narendra Modi and Mr Anil Ambani will be convicted. There is corruption,” Gandhi said. During the 30-minute interaction with the media, the Congress President stressed that he was all for “de-centralisation” of power and accused the BJP and Modi government of “foisting” all the ideas propagated by the RSS which is headquartered at Nagpur.

Contending that Modi has failed on several counts, including jobs, Gandhi sought to know why JeM chief Masood Azar was released by the NDA Government in 1999 during the Kandahar hijack episode. “Modi is a flow shop when it comes to jobs,” the Congress President said.

On Tamil Nadu, Gandhi said the AIADMK Government was being “remote-controlled” by Modi and the Prime Minister’s office by “pressuring” and “manipulating” those who are at the helm. He also alleged that the Modi government was hell-bent on assaulting Tamil culture and language and said the DMK-Congress alliance felt very strongly about the “state government’s ineffectiveness.”

On farmers, Gandhi said the Congress views farmers as “strategic asset” and believes that the country cannot be strong “without them.” Contending that it would be arrogant on the part of Opposition to declare a Prime Ministerial candidate, he said their duty was “to defeat Narendra Modi and we will deliver on that duty.”