Black Trunk From PM Modi's Chopper Unlocks Congress Conspiracy Theory

The Congress today alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter was seen transporting a "suspicious black trunk" during his visit to Karnataka's Chitradurga earlier this week, and demanded a thorough probe into the matter.

Party spokesperson Anand Sharma said the Election Commission must look into the contents of the trunk. "We saw that there were three more choppers escorting the Prime Minister's helicopter. After landing, a black trunk was taken out and whisked away in a private car that was not part of the special protection group carcade," he said, adding that the Congress' Karnataka unit has already filed a complaint with the Election Commission in this regard.

Mr Sharma alleged that the trunk may have contained money. "What was there in the trunk? If there was no cash in it, let an inquiry be held," he said.

The Prime Minister had addressed the election rally in Chitradurga on April 9. Soon after the rally, Congress workers posted the video on Twitter asking uncharitable questions. NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Suspicious box was offloaded from the PM's helicopter in Chitradurga, Karnataka today.

It was rushed to a waiting Innova, which then sped away

The question is,

Why was the box not part of security protocol?

Why wasn't the Innova part of PM's convoy? Whose car was it?

(1/n) pic.twitter.com/lJWVPC5neb

— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) April 13, 2019

Mr Sharma then went on to ask PM Modi to give an account of his five-year rule to the people of the country as a tribute to reformist BR Ambedkar on his birth anniversary, and reiterated the allegations of corruption in the Modi government's Rafale fighter jet deal.

"The Prime Minister is trying to control and change the narrative because he has no courage to face real issues," he said. "Why is the Prime Minister silent on Rafale? Make the minutes of the meeting between Prime Minister and former French president Francois Hollande on the Rafale deal public by tomorrow. As there has been a controversy, it will help settle things once and for all."

The BJP trashed the opposition's allegations on the black trunk as well as the Rafale deal. "These are baseless allegations, and the Congress -- which is synonymous with corruption -- should come clean on its own issues," said party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao.

The Congress has alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal, saying that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government when it was negotiating the deal.

(With inputs from PTI)

Disclaimer: NDTV has been sued for 10,000 crores by Anil Ambani's Reliance Group for its coverage of the Rafale deal.