Rahul Gandhi to interact with HAL employees today amid Rafale controversy

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to interact with nearly 100 working and retired employees of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Saturday.

Informing about his meeting at the state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer, Rahul tweeted on Saturday that the interaction will be held from 3:00 pm onwards outside the HAL headquarters in Bengaluru.

"HAL is India's strategic asset. The future of India's aerospace industry has been destroyed by snatching #Rafale from HAL & gifting it to Anil Ambani. Come defend the dignity of India's defenders. I am in Bengaluru to stand with HAL's employees. Join me outside HAL HQ, at 3 PM," the tweet read.

The meeting comes at a time when the Congress party-led opposition is mounting attack on the government over the India-France Rafale deal and the selection of Reliance Defence Limited, instead of HAL, as an offset partner for France's Dassault Aviation.

Gandhi, time and again, has accused the Narendra Modi-led NDA government of ousting HAL as Rafale's offset partner and choosing Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Limited to save the company's debt-ridden chairperson and his business.

In his recent campaign in poll-bound Rajasthan, the Congress president also alleged that Prime Minister Modi has "become the Chowkidaar of his friends including Ambani, and not the nation's."

-ANI