Congress urges Govt to order JPC probe into Rafale deal

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday asserted that the Government has no option but to order a JPC probe into the allegations of corruption in the purchase of Rafale fighter jets and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence even 48 hours after an investigation in France was ordered into the deal.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said truth cannot be silenced while former defence minister A K Antony said the Modi government cannot escape accountability by keeping mum and alleged that it points towards a “mal-intent to hush up” alleged corruption in the deal. “Truth can’t be silenced. Unlike ‘Modia’,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted, using the hashtag “RafaleScam”.

He also shared a video of a journalist of French media firm Mediapart who claimed that the then French president Francois Hollande had said that the Indian government had proposed Anil Ambani’s Reliance group as a partner of Dassault in the deal.

Antony alleged that “prima facie



corruption in the Rafale deal is now apparent”, as the French Public Prosecution Services has now appointed a judge to investigate “corruption, influence peddling and brazen favouritism” in the 36-aircraft Rafale deal. “The intriguing silence of the Modi Government points towards mal-intent to hush up the corruption. The refusal of the BJP Government to probe and punish the guilty is even more astonishing, pointing towards a concerted effort to bury the scam,” the former defence minister said.

He said the series of events and documents in public records have now affirmed the stance of the

Congress party about “wrongdoing and corruption” in the Rafale deal. “What is, indeed, mysterious is the fact that despite 48 hours having lapsed, the prime minister and the defence minister have decided to maintain complete silence on the ordering of corruption investigation into the Rafale deal by the French Public Prosecution Services.