Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allocated a mere Rs 40 per person per year under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, but has helped businessman Anil Ambani get a contract with the Rafale defence aircraft deal.
“When does the country’s watchman open the coffers of the state exchequer?” he tweeted. “Giving Rs 1.3 lakh crore to Anil Ambani in Rafale scam. Giving Rs 2,000 crore to 50 crore Indians in Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana. Modiji’s annual expense [is] a mere Rs 40 per person for the Rs 5 lakh health insurance lollipop. Wow Modiji, this news itself is your publicity.”
Gandhi has repeatedly attacked the Modi-led government for alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal. On Monday, at a rally in Amethi, the Congress president accused the prime minister of taking money from the poor and giving it to Ambani.
Ambani’s Reliance Defence has signed the offset contract with Dassault Aviation, the French firm that manufactures the jets. The Congress has repeatedly accused the Narendra Modi-led government of granting the contract to Ambani’s firm, instead of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which was to make the aircraft in India before the Bharatiya Janata Party government entered a new deal with France. The party’s allegations appeared to be bolstered when former French President Francois Hollande claimed earlier this month that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence for the contract.
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