Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in corruption in Rafale deal.

Gandhi, in a special press conference, said Modi was only 'interested in filling up Anil Ambani's pocket with India's and the Indian Air Force's money'.

The allegations come after French online investigative journal Mediapart reported that Rafale jet maker Dassault Aviation's agreement with Reliance Group's Ambani was presented as a “trade-off” to obtain the Rafale sales contract.

In the wake of the ongoing controversy, Dassault Aviation clarified on Wednesday that it had "freely chosen" India's Reliance Group for a partnership to manufacture parts for Rafale aircraft and Falcon 2000 business jets.

Gandhi, who had called for an inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing, said he told Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to set up a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) and probe the Rafale deal.

"Prime Minister is not the prime minister of this country, he is Anil Ambani's prime minister," Gandhi said.

Gandhi also questioned the purpose of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's trip to France, where she is expected to visit Dassault factory and also meet her French counterpart, Florence Parly.

He described Sitharaman's trip to France as part of a "huge cover-up" by the government.

The Congress has been alleging that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has been procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the then UPA government.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to provide details of the decision making process in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France in a sealed cover but clarified that it does not want information on pricing and technical particulars.

(With inputs from PTI)

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First Published:Oct 11, 2018 2:07 PM IST