PTI, NEW DELHI: The BJP Tuesday gave details of alleged bribe, including a flat in London, given to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra by a defence dealer as it intensified its counter-attack on the opposition party over the Rafale deal.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged at a press conference that Sanjay Bhandari, a defence middleman facing criminal cases, had received one million Swiss francs as his commission in defence deals under the UPA government, adding that the “money was meant for the Congress”.
Claiming that Gandhi’s brother-in-law was “friends” with Bhandari and used his influence to get him defence deals when the Congress was in power, the BJP leader said the UPA government had scrapped the Rafale deal as his firm was not given a contract by Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the fighter aircraft.
“This makes it clear what was the intention of the Congress. The main reason behind its attack on the Rafale deal (struck by the Modi government) is that it could not pocket commission,” Patra told reporters.
The Modi government cracked down on Bhandari after it came to power in 2014, and a CBI raid on his premises turned up several confidential defence documents, including those related to the Rafale transactions, he said.
“Rahul Gandhi, who is the president of a party which sold out the country, is insulting a prime minister who has saved it,” he claimed.
Seeking Gandhi’s response to allegations involving Vadra, Patra said people will answer his charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“Vadra will certainly go to jail for allegedly helping a defence dealer in bagging contracts during the UPA’s rule,” Patra said, adding that the Modi government will act as per law and not with a “mindset of revenge”.
Bhandari’s company had a paid-up capital of only Rs one lakh but its revenues ran into crores under the UPA, and Gandhi should answer as to how it happened, he said.
