Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked why a probe cannot be ordered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a 'Rs 30,000-crore scam' when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.
At a news conference in New Delhi, Rahul accused the Prime Minister of performing a bypass surgery on the deal and the government of manipulating institutions to 'save' him.
'You do whatever you want to do legally, but justice should be for all. If files have been stolen, then you are accepting that the stories based on those documents are true.... Why should not there be a criminal investigation? When a probe can be ordered against anyone who opposes the Prime Minister, then why not against Narendra Modi?' he asked.
The parallel negotiations 'retarded' the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft could not come earlier because 'you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore,' he said.
Rahul also took a swipe at the government over attorney-general K.K. Venugopal telling the Supreme Curt on Wednesday that the Rafale files were stolen from the defence ministry.
'Gayab ho gaya' is the new tagline of the Modi government, he said, adding that the Rafale files had disappeared like jobs for youths, right prices for farmers' produce, and the promise of Rs 15 lakh to everyone, farmers' insurance, black money after demonetisation and Doklam.
'An interesting thing happened yesterday.... The government said the media will be investigated, but there is no probe against those involved in the Rs 30,000-crore scam. The government is protecting Narendra Modi, the 'chowkidaar', at any cost,' he told the press conference.
'The Prime Minister delayed the Rafale deal... The parallel negotiations retarded the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft could not come early because you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore,' he alleged.
The government has constantly rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress, with the BJP accusing Rahul of spreading lies to torpedo the deal. Ambani has rejected the allegations against him.