Launching a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Rafale, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the prime minister of running "parallel negotiations" with the French side. "For more than a year, we've been saying that PM is directly involved in Rafale scam. Today it is clear that PM himself had been carrying out a parallel negotiation with the French," Mr Gandhi said at a press briefing in New Delhi.
The presser was called after The Hindu, in its report, claimed the Defence Ministry had expressed strong reservations to the "parallel negotiations" conducted by the Prime Minister's Office with France on the multi-billion dollar deal. The note - dated November 24, 2015 - that was reportedly brought to the attention of then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the position taken by the PMO was "contradictory to the stand taken by Defence Ministry and the negotiating team."
The strongly-worded note, prepared by then Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, further states that "it is desirable that such discussions be avoided by the PMO as it undermines our negotiating position seriously."
The report provides fresh ammo to the opposition Congress which has relentlessly attacked the Modi government of signing an overpriced deal for 36 Rafale jets to help industrialist Anil Ambani.
Disclaimer: NDTV has been sued for 10,000 crores by Anil Ambani's Reliance Group for its coverage of the Rafale deal.
