Rahul Gandhi slams BJP again over JeM chief's release, Rafale deal

Chennai, Mar 13 Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday reiterated that the BJP government had release  JeM chief Masood Azhar and asked what the Narendra Modi routine had done to secure the 40 CRPF work force killed in the Pulwama attack.

Addressing a press conference here, the Gandhi scion stated: "The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) needs to clarify why they sent that criminal (Azhar) back to Pakistan."

Attacking National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, once more, Gandhi stressed on that he was associated with the Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) chief's release.

Gandhi had earlier ridiculed Doval by saying that he had "escorted" Azhar - who was in an Indian correctional facility and discharged because of the IC 814 commandeering scene - to Kandahar in an "exceptional special aircraft" in 1999.

"For what reason was Azhar released... National Security advisor is engaged with that (in his release)," Gandhi said.

"What did the legislature do to ensure the CRPF personnel..." he further inquired.

Targeting on the Union government on the Rafale aircraft deal, Gandhi affirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ran a "parallel negotiation".

Gandhi said while there was no question about the jet's capability, the issue was about corruption and there was a need to test it.

Asked if the party would scrap the deal if voted to power, Gandhi said: "That is a technical decision... We don't have information on that."

But the question of corruption is crystal clear... The prime minister is a "corrupt" man, bypassed negotiations, ran parallel negotiations on the Rafale deal, he said.

"The only question we are raising is that Mr Narendra Modi and Mr Anil Ambani have stolen Rs 30,000 crore... We will have examination and (I am) 100 percent certain... on the back of that investigation, they will be convicted," he included.

The charge has been more than once denied by the Modi government and the Reliance group.

The BJP has described Rahul Gandhi's allegations against Modi in the Rafale deal as "yet another lie from his lie-manufacturing factory".