Rahul breaks into verse to target Modi on Rafale

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday broke into verse to hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the reported shunting of a defence ministry officer for objecting to the price of the Rafale fighter aircraft.

Rahul penned a short poem in Hindi saying the leader of the thieves targeted the officer, who tried to stop the theft. “Modi-Ambani ka dekho khel, HAL se chhin liya Rafale (Look at the game of Modi-Ambani, they snatched away Rafale from HAL),” the Congress President said.

He tagged a media report that claimed that the Defence Ministry official who raised objections over the price of the Rafale jets “proceeded” on a month-long leave after which the Defence Acquisition Council approved the deal to purchase the fighter aircraft.

Whistleblower absent

Citing the same media report, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed that the Modi government “sent on leave the 'whistleblower'”, who questioned the loss to the state exchequer “by paying 300% extra for 36 Rafale”.

Addressing a press conference here, senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy claimed that the differences within the government led to delay in ratification of the Rafale agreement by the Defence Ministers of India and France.

“It was ratified in September 2016 whereas the deal was signed between the President of France and the Prime Minister on 10th April 2015 – more than one year – it is an order worth Rs 60,000 crore,” Reddy told reporters here.

The Congress questioned Modi's continued silence over the accusations on the Rafale deal.

“Rafale scam has begun to stink and Shri Modi has begun to sink into the sea of this scandal. There is no way he can get away from it,” Reddy said.