Congress is troubled as Rafale deal did not have middleman: Union Minister Meghwal
On Monday, November 5, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that Congress is troubled in Rafale deal as the NDA government at center kicked out middleman, a close aid of Sonia Gandhi’s sob in law Robert Vadra, Sanjay Bhandari.
Meghwal said at a press conference, “With complete information and responsibility, I am saying that Congress is troubled as the Rafale aircraft deal did not have middleman Sanjay Bhandari. We kicked out the middleman and the deal was done between two countries”.
Congress troubled over Rafale as Robert Vadra’s aide wasn’t made middleman: Union Minister
@BJP4India @BJP4Rajasthan @BJPLive @AmitShah @narendramodi @nsitharaman https://t.co/jbSyIVf4Xy
— Arjun Ram Meghwal (@arjunrammeghwal) November 5, 2018
Meghwal also blamed Congress for delaying procurement of Rafale fighter planes from 2006 to 2013 even after repeated requests from Indian Air Force (IAF).
He said, “Congress is discussing the prices of UPA-1 dispensation and not the price fixed by the UPA-2 during 2012-13. The price for a standard and fighter Rafale aircraft fixed by BJP government is 9 per cent and 25 per cent lower than the UPA deal”.
Earlier on September 25, BJP leader Sambit Patra alleged that UPA government scrapped Rafale deal because Sanjay Bhandari, middleman and friend of Robert Vadra, was not getting the offset project from Dassault Aviation in Rafale deal so Vadra was not able to get his commission.
Patra said, “Bhandari, who has close links with Vadra, formed a company named Offset India Solutions (OIS) in 2008 and he formed a joint venture with Rafaut as he tried to enter into an offset clause in the Rafale fighter jets deal through the back door”.
He said, “But when Dassault verified the infrastructure of OIS, it found that they did not have the required criteria. It also found Bhandari’s links with Vadra. So Dassault became adamant and they made it clear that they do not want to enter into any kind of deal with the OIS”.
He added, “And this was the reason why the Rafale deal was then scrapped after years of negotiations as Vadra was not getting the commission out of the deal”.
