Rafale Scam: As BJP alleges Congress corruption, Vijayvargiya says 'None will be spared'

After the expose by French investigative magazine Mediapart alleged kickbacks during the Rafale negotiations under the UPA government, BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday said that "every corruption scandal will be exposed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and whoever is the culprit will not be spared." 

Earlier in the day, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged corruption by the Congress in the Rafale deal and presented a copy of the Mediapart article during a press conference and claimed that the truth was now out. Patra pointed out the agreement of commission placed in the deal. “We didn’t see any agreement of purchase during the Congress rule, but there was an agreement of commission,” he said. 

Sambit Patra also alleged that the Congress party did not do any deals without demanding commission for themselves. He claimed that the Congress received commissions in other deals as well. “INC has been 'I Need Commission' since its inception. Jeep scandal during the Nehru government, Bofors scam, Airbus scam, HDW Submarine scam, AgustaWestland scam and Tatra Truck scam were all examples of the same. The Congress has been receiving commissions for a long time,” the BJP national spokesperson alleged.

Middleman paid 7.5 mn euros by Dassault: French report

On Sunday, a report published by Mediapart claimed that alleged false invoices enabled French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman during 2007-12. The report named one - Sushen Gupta - who was paid by Dassault. The report also claims that the CBI and ED have had proof of these illicit payments since 2018 but have not probed. The report alleged that Gupta's Mauritian company 'Interstellar Technologies' received at least 7.5 mn euros from Dassault aviation between the aforementioned years. The payment was allegedly done via 'overbilled IT contracts' from Dassault, states the report. Gupta's same company 'Interstellar Technologies' was also allegedly used for kickbacks in the AgustaWestland Chopper scam and is now under CBI and ED scanner. The question remains, however, why this particular commission deal has not been probed yet by India's agencies for 3 years.