Rahul Gandhi: Dassault paid Rs 284 crore as kickbacks to Reliance

Rahul Gandhi addresses a press meet at the AICC headquarters, in New Delhi, on Friday. Pic/PTI

Firing a fresh salvo, Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that French company Dassault Aviation paid Rs 284 crore as "first instalment of kickbacks" to Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not be able to survive a probe in the Rafale jet deal.

He claimed that the PM was spending "sleepless nights" fearing action against him if a probe was conducted into the Rafale deal and that CBI Chief Alok Verma was "removed" as he wanted to investigate the deal. Gandhi, however, gave no evidence or documents to substantiate his allegations.

Reliance Group rejected Gandhi's charges as false and said Ambani and his company was being continuously dragged into a political battle in view of the upcoming polls. "The Congress has once again resorted to blatant to mount an unwarranted campaign of calumny and falsehoods against the Reliance Group and its Chairman Anil Ambani personally," the group alleged a statement. There was no reaction from the government or the BJP on the fresh charges, though they have previously rejected all allegations over the Rafale deal.

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