TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Firing a fresh salvo, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that French firm Dassault Aviation paid Rs 284 crore as “first instalment of kickbacks” to Anil Ambani’s company and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not be able to survive a probe in the Rafale jet deal.
He claimed that the prime minister was spending “sleepless nights” fearing action against him if a probe was conducted into the Rafale deal and that Central Bureau of Investigation chief Alok Verma was “removed” as he wanted to investigate the deal. Gandhi, however, gave no evidence or documents to substantiate his allegations.
Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group rejected Gandhi’s charges as false and said Ambani and his company are being continuously dragged into a political battle in view of upcoming polls.”The Congress Party has today once again resorted to blatant lies and distorted facts to mount an unwarranted campaign of calumny and falsehoods against the Reliance Group and its Chairman Mr Anil Ambani personally,” the group alleged a statement.
There was no reaction from the government or the Bharatiya Janata Party on the fresh charges, though they have previously rejected all allegations over the Rafale deal. Gandhi, who has persistently attacked the prime minister over the Rafale deal, said at a press conference that “if an inquiry starts on this, Narendra Modi is not going to survive that inquiry, guaranteed”.
