Gandhi has been attacking the Prime Minister over alleged corruption and favouritism in the Rafale fighter jet deal with a French firm
New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi Sunday used a popular song from Bollywood blockbuster Sholay to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "proximity" to business magnate Anil Ambani.
Gandhi used the hit song, Ye dosti hum nahin todenge, from the film, using the pictures of Modi and Ambani, whose company, according to the Congress chief, had received the offset contract worth Rs 30,000 crore in the Rafale deal.
The 17-second video uploaded on Gandhi's Twitter handle only shows the smiling faces of Modi and Ambani with the song playing in the background.
Gandhi has been attacking the Prime Minister over alleged corruption and favouritism in the Rafale fighter jet deal with a French firm.
According to the Congress chief, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has renegotiated the deal by leaving out the State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which was set to get the offset contract as per the deal negotiated by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
In reply, BJP spokesperson Tajinder Bagga posted a montage of Indira Gandhi and Dhirubhai Ambani with the song ‘Bholi surat dil ke khote, naam bade aur darashan chhote’ from the 1951 film Albela, hinting at how Indira and Reliance-founder Ambani shared a ‘cordial’ relationship.
Rafale aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation on October 11 denied its deputy CEO’s claim that taking Reliance as offsets partner was mandatory to get the deal from India. In a statement, the French company said their official had stated that forming a joint venture company Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd was required to get the contract with the Indian government.
“Dassault Aviation has freely chosen Reliance group as its partner. The joint venture was created on February 10, 2017,” the statement clarified.
Dassault said it has signed similar deals with companies such as BTSL, DEFSYS, Kinetic, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maini, SAMTEL. More such deals are on the anvil with hundred-odd other potential partners, the company added.
Also read: Rafale controversy: HAL ignored by foreign vendors; Rahul Gandhi's claims unfounded, say govt data
Hollande was earlier quoted in an article by a French website as claiming that the Indian government had asked the French government to nominate Reliance Defence as its India partner in the deal.
With agency inputs
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