New Delhi, Aug 10 (NIE): Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday called the Rafale deal the ‘biggest defence scam’ of the country blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for it. While speaking at the inauguration of a new office of the Chhattisgarh unit of the party in Raipur today, Gandhi said he didn’t get an answer from Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament when he asked why she lied to the nation about the deal.
“Maine Parliament mein Raksha Mantri se kaha ki apne Hindustan ko jhooth kyun bola? Jawab nahi mila.Jab maine Modi Ji ko kaha, wo apni aankh meri aaknh se nahi mila paye. Aapne TV mein dekha wo idhar udhar dekh rahe the. Kyun? Kyunki chowkidar bhaagidar ban gaya (I asked the Defence Minister in the Parliament about why she lied to the country? I did not get any answer. When I told Modiji about this, he was not able to look me in the eye. You saw on TV how he was looking here and there. Why? Because chowkidaar had become the bhaagidaar),” Gandhi said in his address.
Gandhi spoke on a host of issues, including the lack of investigation in Panama Papers case and increasing number of rapes in UP and Bihar. Attacking the BJP for the lack of investigation into the Panama Papers case, the Congress president drew parallels between Pakistan and Chhattisgarh. “When the name of former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif appeared in Panama papers, he was convicted in it. In Chhattisgarh, when the name of your CM’s son comes in Panama papers, investigation doesn’t even begin. This is BJP-NDA’s ‘chowkidari’.”
He further said that the Prime Minister never utters a word regarding rape incidents in UP and Bihar, adding that Indians are questioning “why women are being raped in BJP-ruled states”. He also took on the opposition claiming that what happened to women in last 4 years never happened in even 3,000 years.
The Congress president, who was in Raipur to inaugurate the new two-storey office, laid the foundation of the office building in June 2015 when he was the party vice-president. The office building named ‘Rajiv Bhawan’, is located in posh Shankar Nagar locality of the state capital.
Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, AICC Chhattisgarh in-charge P L Punia, state party chief Bhupesh Baghel and Leader of Opposition T S Singhdeo, among others, were also present at the occasion. The new office is expected to function as the main opposition party’s base for the assembly elections slated to be held by the year-end.