Aurangabad: The Congress on Monday made it clear that the alleged scam of the Rafale deal will be a major issue during the campaign for general elections, 2019. The party has formed a seven-member task force to reach out to the people across the country to spread awareness about what it terms is the “biggest defence scandal” the country has seen.Senior leaders are being fielded across the country to speak on the alleged Rs 41,000 defence scam, with evidence to show that a private firm, formed less than two weeks prior to the signing of the deal, stood to benefit at the cost of public-sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.Arjun Modhwadia, former Gujarat Congress president who has recently been appointed All India Congress general secretary, who is also on the task force, said this issue would definitely feature during the next elections. Other task force members include Jaipal Reddy and Jairam Ramesh.“The leaders will reach out to party workers and the people in general, highlighting the hurry with which the Modi government bought the Rafale aircraft for an escalated price, causing losses to the public exchequer and squandering the national interest while promoting a culture of crony capitalism,” Modhwadia said.He said the deal that was finalised by the Dr Manmohan Singh government in 2012 for Rs 526.10 crore per aircraft, and only 18 would be bought in a ‘fly away’ condition. The remaining 108 aircraft were to be made in India by HAL, and a transfer of technology clause too was part of the agreement.The Modi government reviewed the deal in 2015, announced emergency off-the-shelf purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft in Paris for Rs 1670.70 crore per aircraft. The price was published in the annual report 2016 of Dassault Aviation and a press release issued by Reliance Defence Limited, Modhwadia said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have been shying away from disclosing the amount that India paid for the Rafales in the name of secrecy. “We do not seek that the prime minister and defence minister declare the technical details. We just want them to disclose the price at which these aircraft were bought,” Modhwaia told newsmen.The Congress also accused the Modi government of snatching Rs 36,000 offset contract from the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limits and “instead Reliance got the Rs 30,000 crore contract. It also bagged the Rs 1 lakh crore “life cycle contract”.Modhwadia said the Congress has already started reaching out to people so there is greater awareness of this scam. “We intend to highlight failures of the government in many other spheres,” he said, asserting that the party was not worried about legal notices to leaders for raising the Rafale scandal.

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