Rahul fires fresh salvo at PM on Rafale deal

Amethi (UP): Firing a fresh salvo at the prime minister over the Rafale jet deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday charged that the country's "chowkidar" Narendra Modi snatched money away from the poor and handed it over to industrialist Anil Ambani.

Gandhi also asked the PM for answers on several issues relating to the Rafale jet fighter deal with France.

"The chowkidar of the country has taken out Rs 20,000 crore from the pockets of the poor, martyrs and the jawans and put it in the pocket of (Anil)Ambani," Gandhi said at a meeting in the Jais area of his Lok Sabha constituency.

The Congress chief arrived here on a two-day visit, the first after his Kailash Mansarover pilgrimage, and said the people of the country want to know the amount involved in the Rafale deal.

"Why was the price not disclosed...how was the contract given to(Anil) Ambani... serious charges have been levelled by former French president Francois Hollande," he added. Recalling that during a debate in Parliament on the Rafale deal, "The prime minister could not look me in the eye. PM gives speeches but no answers... he does not have the courage to give reply."

"Under the BJP government, the farmers and poor are crying...the present government is providing all benefits to a selected five to ten people," he said, alleging people like Anil Ambani, Vijay Mallya and

Lalit Modi are getting all benefits.

The Reliance Group, in a statement quoting Ambani's letter to Gandhi last month, had said, "Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests."