Rahul Gandhi tweets sequel to his Rafale deal taunt, says Modi government eased $20 billion deal for Reliance Defence

He had earlier questioned the wisdom of giving a $4 bn contract to a seemingly inexperienced company.

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi again upped the ante, by tweeting a sequel to his allegation that the Modi government had favoured Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence with $4 billion in 'offset contracts'. Rahul tweeted a recalculation that raised the alleged gain to Reliance Defence to $20 billion.

"Dear Trolls, I apologise for my earlier tweet in which I stated Mr 56's friend's JV, received 4 Billion US$'s of "off set" contracts. I forgot to add the 16 Billion US$ RAFALE "lifecycle" contract ?? 20 BILLION US$, is the actual benefit. So Sorry!! #130000CroreRafaleScam," read his sequel tweet on Friday evening.

Rahul had fired his first shot in this regard on Wednesday, with a tweet that read, "Mr 56 does *love* someone after all. 1. Must wear a suit 2. Must have 45,000CR debt 3. Must have a TEN day old company. 4. Must never have made an aircraft in his life. Rewards of up to $4 billion in "off set" contracts if you fulfil said criteria."

Rahul's tweet was an extension of his allegations that the Modi government's renegotiation for the purchase of the French-made Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft had ended up costing much more than the price that the Congress had negotiated during the UPA tenure.

He has repeatedly demanded that the Modi government disclose the total cost of its purchase of 36 Rafale fighters from France. The government has held that the cost is classified under a security agreement signed between the two countries.

Rahul had claimed in the Lok Sabha that French President Emmanuel Macron had told him in person that there was no such secrecy clause that would prevent the revelation of the price of the deal. However, the French government quickly put out a statement rebutting Rahul's claim, and confirming the secrecy clause.