Journalists covering Rafale deal being threatened: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi recently said that owing to the Rafale fighter jet deal, taxpayers will have to pay the "Prime Minister's friend's joint venture Rs 1 lakh crore over five decades to main the aircraft".

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi (File photo | PTI) 

NEW DELHI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed Prime Minister, saying the journalists reporting the Rafale scam are being threatened.

"Supreme leader's minions are now sending threatening messages to journalists reporting on the #RafaleScam asking them to 'back off or else...'," wrote Gandhi in Twitter.

"I'm really proud of the few brave press people who still have the guts to defend the truth and stand up to Mr 56 (a reference to Modi)," he tweeted.

READ | Rafale deal conflict explained: Here's what Congress and BJP said over the past three years

Gandhi on Saturday claimed that owing to the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Indian taxpayers will have to pay the "Prime Minister's friend's joint venture Rs 1 lakh crore over five decades to maintain the aircraft".

The Congress has earlier accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "lying" on Reliance Defence Ltd -- which, he claimed, did not have experience in manufacturing fighter jets -- for having secured an offset contract from Dassault Aviation for Rs 30,000 crore and a consequent Lifecycle Cost Contract of Rs 1 lakh crore in the Rafale deal.

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