Congress received 1 million Swiss francs under defense deals: BJP

The BJP Tuesday gave details of alleged bribe, including a flat in London, given to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra by a defense dealer as it intensified its counter-attack on the opposition party over the Rafale deal.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged at a press conference that Sanjay Bhandari, a defense middleman facing criminal cases, had received one million Swiss francs as his commission in defense deals under the UPA government, adding that the "money was meant for the Congress".

Claiming that Gandhi's brother-in-law was "friends" with Bhandari and used his influence to get him defense deals when the Congress was in power, the BJP leader said the UPA government had scrapped the Rafale deal as his firm was not given a contract by Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the fighter aircraft.

"This makes it clear what was the intention of the Congress. The main reason behind its attack on the Rafale deal (struck by the Modi government) is that it could not pocket commission," Patra told reporters.

The Modi government cracked down on Bhandari after it came to power in 2014, and a CBI raid on his premises turned up several confidential defense documents, including those related to the Rafale transactions, he said.

"Rahul Gandhi, who is the president of a party which sold out the country, is insulting a prime minister who has saved it," he claimed.

Seeking Gandhi's response to allegations involving Vadra, Patra said people will answer his charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"Vadra will certainly go to jail for allegedly helping a defense dealer in bagging contracts during the UPA's rule," Patra said, adding that the Modi government will act as per law and not with a "mindset of revenge".

Bhandari's company had a paid-up capital of only Rs one lakh but its revenues ran into crores under the UPA, and Gandhi should answer as to how it happened, he said.

Facing criminal charges, Bhandari is presently out of the country, he said, adding that his company has been blacklisted by the government.

The BJP leader gave the address of a London flat, details of the defense dealer's bank account through which money was allegedly paid to Vadra and his first-class flight tickets bought by the dealer's travel firm. Vadra would help him in getting defense deals, he said.

Patra alleged that the flat belonged to Vadra and claimed that all transactions had happened when the Congress-led UPA was in power.

Vadra has been denying these allegations and has accused the Modi government of "political vendetta".

Patra reiterated the BJP's charge that the UPA government had scrapped its deal with Dassault Aviation, which manufactured Rafale fighter aircraft because the French firm declined to choose the dealer's firm backed by Vadra as its offset partner.

The Gandhi family and the UPA government "looted" the country's interests and harmed the Indian Air Force to protect Vadra's interests, he said.

The BJP has turned the heat on the Congress and raked up the alleged corruption of Vadra after Gandhi targeted Modi, including by taunting him as a "thief", over the alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, claiming that his government helped Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence to get a lucrative contract.

The UPA government had scrapped a contract given to the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and helped the dealer by awarding it to a foreign firm, Pilatus, Patra said. The CBI is probing the case, he added.

Asked what action the government had taken against Vadra, the BJP spokesperson said he was an "emperor" during the UPA whose fingers were in every deal. It is no longer so, he claimed.

"Vadra will definitely go to jail," he said, adding that it took over 20 years to convict fodder scam accused and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.