Rafale deal row: Modi acted as middleman for an industrialist, claims Rahul

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of acting as a middleman of Anil Ambani in the Rafale jet deal, as he cited an e-mail to claim the businessman was aware of the MoU before India and France signed it.

Ambani's knowledge of a defence deal under preparation, which even the then defence minister had said he was not aware of, is in violation of the Official Secrets Act, Gandhi alleged at a press conference, and said this "puts Modi in jail".

Only Modi could have told Ambani about the deal in advance, he alleged.

"This is treason. He (Modi) is doing what spies do," Gandhi said.

Ambani had met the French defence minister days before the signing of the deal during Modi's visit to France in 2015, Gandhi said, quoting from an e-mail written by an Airbus executive to a French official.

The Congress president also rejected the Comptroller and Auditor General report on the Rafale deal, and dubbed it "Chowkidar Auditor General" report.

-PTI