Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, businessman Robert Vadra, on Wednesday dismissed the BJP’s allegation that the UPA pulled out of the Rafale deal as Dassault Aviation did not give the contract to his friend.
The BJP, on Monday, 24 September, dragged Vadra into the Rafale controversy by alleging that the UPA government had cancelled the fighter jets deal with France as Vadra's company was not accepted as the "middleman".
Breaking his silence, Vadra hit back at the BJP and blamed the ruling government of using his name every time “they are cornered for bad governance”.
In a Facebook post, Vadra said the BJP had indulged in a “baseless political witch hunt” against him.
Vadra said the BJP should “tell the nation the truth about the Rafale deal” and should “stop hiding behind a bunch of lies".
On Monday, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Agriculture, alleged that Vadra's company had acted as middleman in the defence procurement deal.
You must have heard the name of Sanjay Bhandari, who works as a middleman in defence deals. His name had earlier appeared in how he arranged air tickets for Vadra and how he got his home interior work done.Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Agriculture
“He (Bhandari) is known to Vadra and he was seen with him in Dubai Defence Expo together," Shekhawat said.
Targeting the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by the Congress, the BJP leader said, “Vadra, the Gandhi family and the then government wanted that the Rafale deal with Dassault Aviation should have been done under Vadra’s company Offset India Solutions, which was formed in 2008.”
Claiming that Vadra's company acts as middleman in defence deals, the BJP leader, said "They (Vadra and Bhandari) represent themselves as middlemen at many defence expos but they have not got a big breakthrough yet. The then government wanted that the French firm should accept it (Vadra's company) as the middleman. But since it did not materialise, the deal with Dassault was cancelled."
(With inputs from IANS, PTI)
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