In yet another blow to the Modi administration in the controversial Rafale deal, Ashish Deshmukh a BJP MLA from Katol in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, has quit the party citing alleged corruption in the Rs 58,000 crore defence deal. He wrote to party President Amit Shah warming him of serious consequences (of the Rafale fiasco) in the upcoming elections.
Deshmukh has accused Prime Minister Modi of “criminal misconduct” in the Rafale deal in wake of the shocking revelation by former French President Francoise Hollande that the Indian government proposed the name of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence and that the French government had no choice. Though Dassault later clarified that the French defence major chose to partner with Reliance, it did little to allay suspicions of corruption given how Reliance Defence was allegedly incorporated just 10 days before Prime Minister Modi flagged the ambitious procurement.
Deshmukh had met Congress President Rahul Gandhi last week and had also expressed dissatisfaction with the BJP government’s failure to address matters related to unemployment, and the plight of farmers, Dalits and minorities in Maharashtra, especially the Vidarbha region.
