MH-RAHUL LD RAFALE Changing slug

BJP leaders feel Rafale guilt: Rahul on Rajnath's France visit
    (EDS: Adding quotes and details)
    Mumbai, Oct 13 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on
Sunday questionned the 'purpose' of Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh's "unprecedented" visit to France to receive the first
Rafale fighter jet, saying BJP leaders are bearing "guilt" in
their minds for making "mistakes" in the controversial deal.
    Addressing a poll rally in Chandivali assembly
constituency in Mumbai, his second in the day, Gandhi also
raised the alleged fraud in the Punjab and Maharashtra
Cooperative (PMC) Bank which has led to restrictions on
withdrawal of money by depositors.
    "It seems the Rafale deal is still hurting the BJP..
(If not) Why Rajnath Singh went to France to receive the first
fighter jet?" he asked the audience.
    In Chandivali, sitting Congress MLA Naseem Khan is
seeking another term against Shiv Sena's Dileep Lande.
    In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi
had alleged "irregularities" in the Rafale deal under Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
    "There has been some guilt in the minds of BJP leaders
that they have made a mistake in the Rafale deal. Even Defence
officials had claimed that PM Narendra Modi is interfering in
the Rafale fighter jet deal. No one can run away from this
truth, neither Narendra Modi, nor Amit Shah or the BJP. The
truth will catch them one day," he said.
    He said everyone knows that the Rafale deal was
controversial and "some kickbacks were given".
    "The deal still hurts (the BJP) and hence our defence
minister went to France to collect the first fighter plane. So
far, no one ever had gone to the supplying nation to collect
the fighter plane like this," Gandhi said.
    The defence minister on Tuesday received the first
Rafale fighter jet from France on behalf of the Indian Air
Force (IAF).
    Singh, who attended the handover ceremony of the first
Rafale fighter jet at aircraft maker Dassault Aviation
facility in Merignac, southwestern France, called it as
"historic" moment and said that it would boost strategic ties
between India and France.
    Gandhi also accused the BJP of "dividing and looting"
the country like the British did in pre-Independence period.
    The "BJP is dividing and looting India like the
British did in pre-Independence period. Wherever BJP leaders
go these days they cause division and unrest," he alleged.
    Accusing the BJP of "favouring" certain corporate
houses, Gandhi said it has become apparent that they also are
looting the country.
    "There was a time when the US president was saying
that Indian economy can compete with the US economy. Nobody
now says it," Gandhi said.
    He also hit back at Union Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman for her statement that Goods and Services Tax (GST)
cannot be altered as it is an Act passed by Parliament.
    "If you cannot change the GST in the name of it being
an Act, do not forget that MNREGA was also an act which you
had changed. The Food Security Act was also altered and you
intend to change the Adivasi Act (to free their
land-holdings). This is not good," he said.
    Gandhi also sought to highlight the "connection"
between some directors of the fraud-hit PMC Bank and the
ruling BJP.
    "If Narendra Modi, Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis are not talking about the core issues of
Maharashtra, at least they should talk about the PMC bank.
They should talk about the board of directors and their
alleged links with BJP leaders," Gandhi said.
    Some depositors of the PMC Bank recently met
Sitharaman when she visited the Mumbai BJP office and demanded
immediate redressal of their issue. The finance minister had
assured them to take up the issue with the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI). PTI ND
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)