"Government shouldn't be selective," Rahul Gandhi said referring to the probe against Robert Vadra
In an interaction with students in Chennai, Rahul Gandhi today referred to the investigation against his brother-in-law Robert Vadra and said, "The government should not be selective". Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also be investigated in the Rafale jet deal, said the Congress President.
"Investigate Mr Vadra, I am the first one to say it. But investigate the Prime Minister also," Rahul Gandhi said, speaking to a gathering of hundreds of students at the Stella Maris college in Chennai as part of his campaign for the April-May national election.
He again raised his allegation of corruption in the deal for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, signed off by PM Modi in 2016. The opposition alleges that the government agreed to an overpriced deal for jets from Dassault Aviation to facilitate an offset contract for industrialist Anil Ambani's inexperienced defence company.
The government, Dassault and Anil Ambani have all strongly denied the allegation.
"Mr Narendra Modi, for one minute has not opened his mouth on the Rafale deal," said Rahul Gandhi.
"The PM is named in the files. The CBI director is removed at 1:30 at night. The French President has spoken about this. PM Modi has given Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani," he added, repeating charges that he has often raised at his public speeches.
Robert Vadra, 50, is the husband of Rahul Gandhi's younger sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who joined politics last month and is the Congress General Secretary in charge of the campaign in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The businessman is being investigated in a money-laundering case and has been through marathon grilling sessions. Investigators claim he directly or indirectly owns nine London-based properties worth around 12 million pounds, bought between 2005 and 2010, when the Congress-led government was in power.
Battling allegations of shadowy land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan when the Congress was in power, Robert Vadra has been the prime target for BJP's corruption charges against the Congress.