Rahul Gandhi on Thursday repeated the accusation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lied to the people on the Rafale deal.

“The chowkidar (watchman) has lied to the people of the country over the Rafale deal,” the Congress president told a gathering in Amethi before winding up his two-day visit to his constituency.

Modi claims to be a “watchman” guarding public money.

Rahul has accused Modi of committing a Rs 30,000-crore scam in the deal to benefit his industrialist friend Anil Ambani.

He claims this sum has been given to the newly formed Dassault Reliance Aerospace, a joint venture between Dassault, the French company that makes the Rafale aircraft, and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Aerostructure.

Reliance has denied the allegations. The Modi government too has rejected Rahul’s claims of corruption in the aircraft deal but refused to reveal all the details of the agreement with France.

“Why did the Prime Minister buy aircraft worth Rs 700 crore (each) for Rs 1,600 crore? Why did he change the director of the CBI at midnight?” Rahul asked. “Because the watchman)…” he left the sentence hanging….

“Chor hai (is a thief),” chorused the crowd, taking the cue.

Then CBI director Alok Verma was benched on October 23-24 night and then axed this month after the Supreme Court reinstated him, declaring his benching illegal.

The apex court had allowed a high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister to go through the report of a corruption probe against Verma and decide his eventual fate.

Some Congress leaders have alleged that Verma was twice removed in such a hurry because he wanted to probe the Rafale contract.

Rahul claimed the Prime Minister had waived bank loans worth thousands of crores taken by 15 to 20 “industrialist friends”.

“The demonetisation was the biggest scam in our country, in which the Prime Minister was involved,” the Congress president said.

He told the crowd that his sister Priyanka Gandhi, who has been appointed party general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, would soon visit Amethi.

“I have appointed Priyanka general secretary of the Congress and asked her to take the blessings of the people of Amethi soon,” he said.

Rahul met a group of state government employees at a guesthouse in Amethi and promised to improve the work atmosphere if the Congress came to power in the state.