Congress President Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: The pitched war of words between the government and the lead opposition party continued on Thursday with Congress president Rahul Gandhi citing a media report to make fresh allegations that the Modi government “renegotiated” the UPA government’s Rafale contract to benefit crony capitalists, a move he says has reduced India’s prestige globally.

Rahul was referring to a new report by a web portal that said starting December this year, India will be crating decommissioned French Jaguar aircraft from France’s Chateaudun base to ‘cannibalise’ parts for spares, in order to keep the Indian Air Force ’s six squadrons flying.

Rahul wrote on both Facebook and Twitter that the NDA government’s renegotiated Rafale deal had deprived Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) of technology transfer that would have allowed India to become self-reliant for the future.

“The UPA’s Rafale deal for 126 aircraft would have transformed the Indian Air Force allowing us to scrap and replace ancient aircraft like the Jaguar. It involved the transfer of technology to HAL which would have helped make us become more self reliant in the future. Instead, the deal was re-worked for Anil Ambani’s benefit and reduced to just 36 aircraft - all made in France!”, Rahul said.

The Congress president also claimed the Rafale deal negotiated by the Modi government was risking the lives of Indian pilots. “Our pilots are forced to put their lives at risk each day, flying ancient Jaguars, that are kept in the air using parts scrounged from junk yards in France and other parts of the world. Not only is this shameful, it reduces India’s prestige globally,” he said.

Citing the media report to allege that instead of getting 126 Rafale aircraft together with transfer of technology that would have transformed the Indian Air Force, the NDA government renegotiated the deal to get only 36 aircraft made in France. “Since 2014, instead of taking to closure deals that had been negotiated by the UPA government, the present government has focused on renegotiating those deals to benefit crony capitalists,” he said.

