New Delhi: The Reliance Group hit back at Congress president Rahul Gandhi who had called Anil Ambani a ‘crony capitalist’ while asking him to clarify whether his 10-years-long government supported an alleged dishonest businessman.

As per Reliance group, Rahul Gandhi's own government gave contracts worth Rs 1 lakh crore to them between 2004-2014.

The reaction from the Reliance group came after Rahul Gandhi made certain references to Reliance Group Chairman, Anil Ambani, claiming that Ambani made a profit of Rs 30,000 crore in Rafale deal and he has no ‘locus standi’ in making the aircraft.

“We would like to remind Rahul Gandhi, that it was during the 10-year Congress-led UPA regime between 2004 and 2014 that the Anil Ambani led Reliance Group was awarded projects of over Rs 1,00,000 crores across diverse key nation-building infrastructure sectors such as power, telecom, roads, metro, by a Government led by none other than Rahul Gandhi’s own political party – the Congress,” said a spokesperson in a statement.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi, the unstoppable lie machine

“The Reliance Group takes this opportunity to request Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether his government, for 10 long years, was supporting an alleged crony capitalist and dishonest businessman, to use Gandhi's own words,” the statement added.

Reliance group said that Rahul's public statement has no basis to his claims and neither has he provided any credible evidence to justify his derogatory and defamatory campaign.

“Rahul Gandhi, in his typical cavalier fashion has continued his campaign of calumny, disinformation, distortion and malicious lies. Yesterday, he has singled out our group chairman Anil D Ambani as allegedly a crony capitalist and dishonest businessman - all obviously patently untrue statements,” he said.

In the statement, the spokesperson said that the Reliance group have chosen to ignore Rahul Gandhi’s comments with continuing patience and restraint. “We likewise dismiss his latest remark as yet another one of his multiple untruthful utterances, in the heat and dust of his electoral campaign, for which he has recently been facing contempt proceedings in the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court,” he said.

The controversy surrounding Rafale deal pertains to the purchase of 36 fighter jets by the Indian government from France’s Dassault Aviation. The Modi government and opposition have been at the loggerheads for the last two years with the opposition leaders claiming corruption in the deal and BJP government refuting all such charges.