Rahul continues diatribe against Modi over Rafale jet deal

Taking the Rafale row to Narendra Modi's home state, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday claimed the prime minister conducted "parallel negotiations" with Dassault Aviation on the French fighter jet deal.

Addressing a public rally in Valsad district of Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi also claimed that the Modi government refused to waive farmers' loans but wrote off Rs 3.5 lakh crore debt of "15 top industrialists".

Attacking the prime minister over the Rafale jet deal, Rahul Gandhi said, "The slogan 'chowkidar chor hai' (the sentry is the thief) is also famous in France and even former French president also says 'chowkidar chor hai'." "The Defence Ministry and the Air Force said Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted parallel negotiations with Dassault Aviation on Rafale deal," Rahul Gandhi claimed.

Criticising the government's incentives announced in the interim budget, he promised that if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, it will give more than just Rs 17 per day in the income guarantee scheme directly in the accounts of the poor.

The Congress chief has been relentlessly targeting the government over the Rafale jet deal. He had on Tuesday accused Modi of acting as a middleman of industrialist Anil Ambani in the fighter jet agreement with France.

However, the government and Ambani have been strongly rejecting allegations of any wrongdoing in the fighter jet deal.