Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of illegally removing Alok Verma as the CBI director since the agency was about to start its probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal.
In a frontal attack on Modi, the Congress chief called the sudden removal of Verma a panic reaction by the Prime Minister. "Prime Minister now cannot escape. We as responsible Opposition, the honest countrymen will not leave Modi. He is now trapped in corruption. People and particularly youths of this country are asking as where has Rs 30,000 crore gone," Rahul said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters.
He said the main motive of the Government in sending Verma on leave was not to quell the infighting in the CBI, but to cover up the evidence in the Rafale deal. "They (the Government) are not removing the CBI director but trying to hide the evidence in Rafale deal. PM's reaction was in a panic. The moment CBI inquiry begins in Rafale deal, the PM knows he is finished. He is scared that he indulged in corruption and he could get caught," the Congress chief said.
Earlier in the day he held public rally in Rajasthan leveling the similar charges against the Prime Minister, industrialist Anil Ambani and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his family involved in the escape of diamond trader Mehul Chowksy.
Addressing a large contingent of media in the national Capital, Rahul alongwith leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge also said that in bypassing the Chief Justice of India and Leader of the Opposition, who along with the PM are members of a committee that decides the appointment and removal of CBI directors, the Government had insulted the Constitution.
"Appointment and removal of CBI director is done by a committee of three people — PM, CJI and Leader of Opposition. But at 2 am in the night, the CBI director was removed. This is an insult to the Constitution, insult to CJI, and insult to people of India and is illegal and criminal," Rahul said in the pressnce of Kharge.
"The charge of CBI has been given to a man who has cases registered against him. Why? Because the PM can control him and that no inquiry can be conducted into Rafale," the Gandhi scion said in response to query. He also said wish he could become a journalist for a day and questions about the dubious Rafale deal from the PM as media is fearing to show all about it.
Rahul repeated the allegation that the Prime Minister paved the way for Anil Ambani's Reliance Group to bag a Rafale-related offset deal. He repeated the Congress allegation that the Rafale jets were being procured at a much higher price than what was being negotiated while the UPA Government was in power. He claimed the Defence Ministry and the Indian Air Force were not consulted.