No end to war on Rafale deal; Congress forms 6-member task force to take on BJP

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi-led Congress party is not in a mood to spare the Narendra Modi -led NDA government at the Centre over the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal with France and has now formed a task force to take on the ruling party.

According to ANI, the six-member task force constituted by Rahul Gandhi will look into the alleged wrongdoings in the Rafale scam, ahead of the 2019 general elections. 

The party has also prepared a strategy to expose the Modi government on the 'scam'.

According to sources, the members of the task force have been personally selected by the party president. It will be headed by senior Congress leader Jaipal Reddy and supervised by national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. 

Other members of the task force include Arjun Modhwadia, Shakti Singh Gohil, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Jaiveer Shergill and Pawan Khera. 

The task force has been directed to build a narrative against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) based on the allegations against the deal.

Party sources were quoted as saying that the task force will cover 160 districts across the country in a time period of six months to reach out to people on the issue of Rafale deal in addition to 100 conferences to be held in various cities. 

The first phase of the task force operations is expected to start on August 25.

Team Rahul has been attacking the ruling BJP on the Rafale deal in the recent past and has sought an explanation over the alleged escalation in the deal price. 

At a rally in Hyderabad on August 14, Rahul Gandhi said that he was willing to engage in a debate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the alleged scam. 

Rubbishing Congress party's allegations, the Centre has accused it of trying "to malign the image of the ruling party".

"All allegations being levelled in various press conferences are already answered on the floor of Parliament. A recent attempt, in the House, to malign the government through baseless charges collapsed. Today's was yet another attempt at repeating fabricated facts," Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted on August 9.

In 2008, India had signed a deal with France based Dassault Aviation to purchase 36 Rafale jets, which is slated to be one of the world's biggest military procurement in recent history and could cost the Indian government USD 15 billion. 

(With Agency inputs)