Rahul Gandhi on Rafale Diaries: “Is Chowkidaar the Real Chor?” The ghost of the Rafale scam is emerging again. A French Anti-Corruption Agency just discovered that Dassault, the manufacturer of Rafale jets, agreed to pay one million euro to an Indian middleman just after the signing of the Indo-French contract in 2016. An amount of 508,925 Euros was allegedly paid under “gifts to clients” head in the 2017 accounts of the Dassault group
This middleman is accused of money-laundering in India in another defense deal, the portal says in the report. This corrupt deal was originally found out by the inspectors of the French Anti-Corruption Agency, Agence Française Anticorruption (AFA), during their scheduled audit of Dassault.
Congress General Secretary, Randeep Surjewala in a press release said that the French news agency, Mediapart.fr shared news founded on the investigation of the French Anti-Corruption Agency revealing that a middleman was involved, they had payments of commissions, and red flags were raised by the French anti-corruption agency.
Mr. Surjewala raised pertinent questions in his press conference and asked:
How can middlemen and commission be paid in a government-to-government contract or in any defense procurement in India in violation of the mandatory procurement procedures?
“Has it not now vitiated the entire Rafale deal entailing imposition of heavy financial penalties on Dassault, banning of the company, registration of an FIR, and other penal consequences as envisaged in the defense procurement and India’s stated policy?
Does it not require a full and independent investigation in India’s biggest defense deal as to home much bribery or commission paid, and paid to whom in the Indian government?
Will the Prime Minister now answer to the nation? “
To recapitulate the past events, on 10 April 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the purchase of 36 Rafale ships (fighter jets) worth Rs 60 thousand crores inside France, Paris.
The Prime Minister’s “Make in India” chant mysteriously vanished and the original deal that Congress had made with France of 126 crafts were reduced to 36 by PM Modi. An “inexperienced company” replaced India’s aerospace giant, HAL.
It is said by Congress that there was no tender, purchase process, and defense procurement processor. It was done without any open transparency and the Prime Minister just went ahead and announced the biggest defense deal and the then defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not have a clue of what was happening.
The late Manohar Parrikar had resigned as defense minister during that time and NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, “The Rafale deal was not acceptable to Manohar Parrikar. He, therefore, resigned from the post of Defence minister and returned to Goa.” It was definitely a shady deal shrouded in mystery.
Right from the time of the deal, Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi had been calling it a massive scam, but no one seemed to pay heed, at least the media ignored it, and in 2018, the Supreme Court gave it a clean chit rejecting all the petitions related to Rafale jet deals and stated there were no irregularities.
The news agency said, “Sale of French Rafale jet fighters to India: how a state scandal was buried.”
Antton Rouget, a French journalist said, “Officially, everything was clean and the Indian Rafale deal ‘affair’ was nothing but a mirage. Yet in reality, there is a scandal, as @Mediapart can today reveal with the publication of the “Rafale Papers”, a 3-part investigation into the affair based on numerous documents.”
Officially, everything was clean and the Indian Rafale deal 'affair' was nothing but a mirage.
Yet in reality there is a scandal, as @Mediapart can today reveal with the publication of the “Rafale Papers”, a 3-part investigation into the affair based on numerous documents. pic.twitter.com/af4u4qzhrn
— Antton Rouget (@AnttonRouget) April 4, 2021
Today, Indian netizens say that the truth finally has come out and all skeletons in the cupboard are being exposed and Congress supporters hail Rahul Gandhi who relentlessly questioned the government on the Rafale deal reiterating that “Rahul Gandi has been vindicated’
They said, “Rahul Gandhi was correct when he had raised the issue of an alleged #RafaleScam. Even the Anti-Corruption Agency of France agrees with him.”
Since 2016, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had raised questions on the deal and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “corrupt’, and reiterating his allegation that the aircraft deal was nothing but a blatant case of cronyism. He said that the deal was struck to save Anil Ambani, who was carrying a Rs 45000 crore debt at the time, from bankruptcy as there was no reason that his inexperienced company should have replaced an aerospace giant like the HAL.
“The prime minister had said he did not want to become a prime minister but a chowkidaar (security guard for the nation). But we now know that the PM is not the PM of India but the PM for the Ambanis. The farmers of India are facing their worst-ever crisis, but our PM is guarding Anil Ambani. Now that both the French President and the second senior-most executive of Dassault have confirmed our allegations, we are again demanding a joint parliamentary probe, which the government had dismissed earlier,” Rahul Gandhi said that Modi helped Anil Ambani pocket crores of Indian people’s money.
The slogan coined by Rahul Gandhi at that time against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after raising allegations of favoritism and price escalation in the Dassault Rafale deal is rising back again, Chowkidar Chor Hai.
This means while the Prime Minister said he is the watchman (chowkidaar) of the nation, he is in fact the thief (chor) for he who was entrusted with safeguarding public money (i.e. the watchman) was in fact a thief; context being that PM Modi had in past claimed to be a ” chowkidaar ” of the nation.
So in the Rafale Diaries case, is there a twist to the tale, and is the chowkidaar the real chor?
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“Is Chowkidaar the Real Chor?”
“Is Chowkidaar the Real Chor?”