PM Modi took away jobs and investments from Karnataka: Congress

BENGALURU:A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his five-day campaign in Karnataka for the Assembly election, the Congress has accused him of denying job creation and diverting investments away from the state.

Deeming Modi government’s purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts for ‘inflated prices’ the biggest defence scam in the country, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “Modi government backstabbed the people of Karnataka by cancelling transfer of technology to HAL, denying thousands of jobs by cancelling ‘Make in Karnataka’ of Rafale aircraft and stalled investments through offset contract between HAL-Dassault worth Rs 36,000 crore.”

The Congress also accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of lying about no Indian firm being awarded the offset contract by Dassault Aviation despite the manufacturing firm and Reliance Aerostructure Ltd advertising the deal.

“Modi government purchased 36 Rafale aircraft for 7.5 Billion Euros calculated at  Rs 1,670.70 crore per aircraft according to the ‘Annual Report, 2016’ of Dassault Aviation, but the firm sold 48 Rafale aircrafts to two other countries — Egypt and Qatar in 2015 — for a mere 7.9 Billion Euros calculated at Rs 1319.80 crore per aircraft,” Surjewala said.

Speaking about B S Yeddyurappa not attending Modi rallies, the Congress said Amit Shah and Modi were dependent on two “corrupt crutches- Yeddyurappa and mining scam accused Janardhana Reddy” in Karnataka.