Vadra wanted Rafale contract for his partner: BJP

The BJP on Monday countered the Congress attack on Rafale deal by accusing it seeking to cancel the Rafale deal as Dassault was not making the firm owned by Robert Vadra's arms-dealer friend Sanjay Bhandari, a partner.

It also claimed that it was an "international conspiracy" and accused the Congress of joining hands with foreign and anti-national elements with an agenda to oust Narendra Modi from power.

The counter-attack came as the Congress has upped its ante with party chief Rahul Gandhi said in Amethi that country's "chowkidar" Narendra Modi snatched money away from the poor and handed it over to industrialist Anil Ambani.

Senior leader and Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Shekhawat said the Congress was trying to derail the deal as it did not manage to get Bhandari's firm what it desired.

"The UPA government had compromised national interest when it tried to help Vadra's friend Sanjay Bhandari and his business deals. Is it that national interest is above Congress and the business interest of Gandhi family's son-in-law. Is Vadra and his friend more important for Rahul Gandhi than the country's interest," Shekhawat said.

"There is a conspiracy to cancel the Rafale deal. It is to demoralise the Air Force. Congress is into a conspiracy with foreign and anti-national forces to remove Modi from power," he said.

He also referred to senior Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar hosting a dinner for Pakistani leaders which was also attended by former prime minister Manmohan Singh among others.

Shekhawat claimed Rahul was "misleading" the country by comparing the cost of an unloaded aircraft with a fully loaded aircraft. "The present Rafale deal is almost 20% cheaper than the UPA deal," he said.

Earlier in the day, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that both the Congress and Pakistan want Modi removed from Indian politics as he claimed that there were similarities in the tweet attack by the two sides. He claimed that Pakistan leaders were campaigning for Rahul.

"Some people want Rahul to become a big leader in India. Who are they? They are Pakistani leaders, and also those who stand for corruption, dynasty and politics of appeasement," Patra told reporters.