Rafale to be the core issue of Congress and the non BJP opposition in 2019. As Bofors was not allowed to die down, Rahul would not let Rafale die down till 2019

While on the one hand the untiring  efforts with regard to the opposition unity are on the full swing with TMC leader and West Bengal chief minister Mamta Bannerjee and the BSP chief Mayawati meeting the National Conference chief Abdullah Junior and the Congess and NCP leaders at the centre and Mumbai to manage possible seat sharing arrangements in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashra etc on the other hand the surprising statement of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi expressing his readyness to even sacrifice the post of prime minister if the need arises in future to credibly ensure that the non BJP opposition unity fructifies in the near future, has created a positive environment in pursuit of this long cherished unity to collectively fight the Modi juggernaut in 2019.

While the unity move is still in a fractured mode at the national level with regional leaders like TRS’s N. Chandra Shekhar Rao, TDP’s Andhra CM, TMC’s Mamta Bannerjee, BSP’s Mayawati and NCP’s Sharad Pawar carrying on the unity parley’s in their own individual ways trying to sideline the Congress party’s president and Nehru Gandhi scion in the race for the possible PM candidate, (  except Sharad Pawar)  one thing that has emerged out of the no confidence motion’s deliberations inside the Lok Sabha is that Rahul Gandhi has proved himself as the sole leader and a capable nucleus of the entire non BJP opposition conglomeration in the making.

The way Rahul had handled the no confidence motion and spoke eloquently on various significant issues of national and peoples’ significance including the most controvertial Rafale deal, not only has the electronic and print media accorded him positive coverage certifying him as a matured leader of the entire non BJP leader in the offing but have also lauded his spirit and endeavour of harmony after hugging the prime minister in the full camera glare.

Though the prime minister has in his one and a half hour aggressive and at times humorous address ably and eloquently countered the Congress leader’s accusations and termed him childish amid thumping of the treasury benches desks and vociferous protests from the TDP members, the political analysts valued Rahul’s speech as an outstanding and excellent performance, thus making the no confidence motion too hectic, lively and of too much of interest.

Meanwhile sources reveal that the Congress party wants to keep the controvertial Rafale episode alive and hectic till the 2019 general elections and would not like it to die down in any case, come what may.

Despite the prime minister Narendra Modi’s best efforts to answer every point of objection of the Nehru Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi and the Defence minister Dr. Nirmala Sethuraman’s unambiguous statement on the screacy clause of the deal that it was actually signed during the UPA’s tenure in 2008, the Congress party chief has again revived and raised the issue by his controvertial tweets on 27/ 28th July with hashtags # Rafale scam stating that 20 million $ is the actual benefit to the India private partner of the joint venture with the Dasault Aviation of France which manufactures the Rafale Jet fighters.

As per the reports published in various newspapers, the head of the publicity department of the Congress and its chief spokes person Randeep Singh Surjewal while releasing various documents before the media on Friday last alleged that there were number of discrepencies in the statement released by the Defence ministry on February 7, 2018 which officially claimed that there were no offset partner of India in the deal of 36 Rafale Aircrafts having been selected by the DASAULT AVIATON ( Vendor) of France and the 2016 annual report of 2016 unambiguously stated Anil Ambani owned Reliance group will manage its offsets provided  in the country by the make in India initiatve.

Surjewala further alleged that on February 16, 2017 a press release from the Reliancedefence limited, the joint venture partner put the value of the deal at 60000 crores in Indian rupees.

In one of the documents as per the Hindu, released by the Congress, the Reliance Group said that over the 50 year period, the life cycle opportunity cost of the deal will come to a whopping one lakh crore.

The Congress party has levelled charges of alleged favouritism to crony capitalists and alleged that the Reliance Defence which does not possess licence or experience to manufacture fighter jets came into existence in just 12 days after the Rafale deal to purchase 36 Jet fighters at exorbitant costs was signed in France with the Dassault Aviation manufacturer of the Rafale jet fighters in the presence of the prime minister.

It may be recalled that the Congress Party and its leader Rahul who had been most vociferous on this most talked about deal right from Gujarat elections to the deliberations on the no confidence motion want to keep Rafale issue alive till the general elections of 2019 as the entire non Congress opposition has kept the controvertial Bofors kick back issue alive and used it to dethrone his late father Rajiv Gandhi who was finally acquitted after his sad assasination. What’s your take friends?