BJP rejects Hollande's claim, says did not favour Reliance

New Delhi: Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a symbol of honesty after Congress president Rahul Gandhi threw the “thief” barb at him, the BJP on Saturday rejected former French president Francois Hollande’s sensational claim on the Rafale deal, saying it does not know under what compulsion he said so.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the fighter aircraft, and Reliance had entered into an agreement as early as 2012 when the Congress-led UPA was in power as he refuted the allegation that the Modi government had favoured the Anil Ambani-led company. Meanwhile, upping the ante over the Rafale issue, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Anil Ambani jointly carried out a Rs 1,30,000 crore “surgical strike” on the defence forces.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also said that Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the fighter aircraft, and Reliance had entered into an agreement as early as 2012 when the Congress-led UPA was in power as he refuted the allegation that the Modi government had favoured the Anil Ambani-led company. 

Ruling out Gandhi’s demand for a JPC probe into the deal, he told a press conference that it cannot be done merely to satisfy the ego of “an arrogant and ill-informed leader repeating lies after lies”. Mr Prasad also cited statements of the French government and Dassault in which they said Indian and French dispensations had no role in picking the offset partner of the private company, to brush aside the charge of corruption. He sought to discredit the claim of Hollande, who had said that the Indian government has proposed Reliance as an offset partner, saying that French journalists have spoken about his “conflict of interests”, he said. 

The BJP leader raked up a number of cases of alleged corruption involving the Gandhi family to launch a stinging attack on the Congress president, saying his family is the “source of corruption” in the country.  No PM of India has been spoken of in a manner Gandhi did about Modi, he said, terming his comments as “irresponsible and shameful” and that he had painted his face black with such remarks. 

“We cannot expect anything better from Gandhi. He has no quality, no capability and whatever he is he owes to his family... Modi is a symbol of honesty and a global leader,” Prasad said, claiming that doors for middlemen and power brokers have been shut under his government. Gandhi told reporters that “what the ex-President of France is saying is that the Prime Minister of India is a ‘thief’.

That is what this (Hollande’s) statement is saying”. He added, “And it is very important for the PM to either accept or reject Mr Hollande’s statement. Prasad said the UPA government terminated negotiations with Dassault after a contract negotiation committee had chosen it as the lowest bidder in 2012 following years of process because the company did not pay it “bribe”.