French portal revealed, Rafale maker paid €7.5 mn to middleman from 2007-12; BJP slams Congress

New Delhi: BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Tuesday slammed the Congress, the Nehru-Gandhi family, and the UPA government over alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jets deal and said the latest report by French portal Mediapart shows that commissions were paid during the United Progressive Alliances' tenure.

"Today it has been revealed that the Congress government took commission during the Rafale negotiations between 2007 and 2012, in which the name of the middleman has also come to the fore," Patra said.

"Rahul Gandhi should reply... Why did you and your party try to spread confusion about Rafale for so many years? The story of commissions paid in Rafale deal is a big conspiracy. The whole matter happened between 2007 and 2012," he said.

"We all saw the way the opposition parties, especially the Congress, tried to create a false atmosphere regarding Rafale before the 2019 elections. They thought it would benefit them politically," he said.

Patra slammed the Congress and said, "INC means 'I Need Commission'." He named the Nehru-Gandhi family and even the Vadras as he attacked the Manmohan Singh-led UPA for the Rafale scam, that he said started during UPA regime.

"We did govt-to-govt negotiation, Congress must reveal 'bribe trail'. Where is the money that Congress made through commission between 2007-12. Congress is double-faced when it comes to corruption and investigation. Favouritism was part and parcel of negotiations that took place on Rafale deal in UPA's time," Patra said.

A report in French news portal Mediapart said Dassault aviation paid at least 7.5 million euros in bribes to a middleman for the Rafale deal. The report said bulk of payments were made before 2013. The Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014.

It also said payments were made to alleged middleman Sushen Gupta, who had also been accused of taking bribe in the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper deal, as well.

The Congress earlier launched a scathing attack on the Modi government and questioned why it has shied away from probing the alleged corruption in Rafale deal.

Congress has been alleging irregularities in the deal for buying 36 Rafale fighter jets off-shelf from France, signed between the Indian and French governments.

The Congress has alleged that the fighter jets are being bought from France at a price higher than what was negotiated in the previous multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal under which 126 fighter jets were to be bought, and included a number of fighters being assembled in India. (UNI)