Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal for long. The Opposition has repeatedly targeted the Centre over the deal over alleging bloated prices for the fighter jets and corruption over the involvement of Reliance Defence in the deal overlooking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
In the latest controversy, the Congress has alleged that the defence ministry had objected to the PMO ‘interference’ in the deal. On Friday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued statement in Lok Sabha to counter Rahul Gandhi's Rafale charges. ''Congress is trying to provoke the army and air force against the government. It is not only unfortunate but dangerous too”, said Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Earlier on Friday, launching a fresh attack on PM Narendra Modi in relation to Rafale, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had 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.