Your letter is about helicopters not jet fighters: Anil Ambani's Reliance accuses Rahul Gandhi of ignoring reality after latest Rafale crusade

Anil Ambani's Reliance ADAG group has issued point-by-point statement dismissing the fresh allegations levelled against it by Rahul Gandhi in the Congress president's fact-bereft crusade to claim a 'scam' in the Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday issued a yet another news briefing where he turned up a letter - this time comprising an internal communication from European aviation giant Airbus - which he used to draw the conclusion that Anil Ambani had known that he would win a particular defence contract (or a MoU would be signed to that effect) days ahead of a visit by PM Modi to France. However, the deal being spoken of in the letter relates to helicopters, not jet fighters, and is something that Reliance group has highlighted in its statement.

In Reliance Defence's statement, a spokesperson clarified that the email that the Congress president was talking about related to a discussion between Airbus and Reliance Defence regarding Civil & Defence Helicopter Programs under the 'Make in India' program.

WATCH: Rahul Gandhi Calls CAG 'Chowkidaar Auditor General', PM 'spy & Middleman', Supreme Court 'open To Question', While Levelling Fresh Rafale Charges

The letter had said that Ambani had met with the French Defence Minister regarding the deal, and based on this, Rahul Gandhi made a number of intellectual leaps that culminated in him calling the Prime Minister a 'middleman' and a 'spy', the CAG 'Chowkidaar Auditor General' and the Supreme Court's Rafale order 'open for questioning'. The essence of Rahul Gandhi charge was that the Prime Minister had committed treason and had violated the official secrets act.

Responding to the allegation by the Congress president, the Reliance Defence statement said, "discussion on proposed MoU was clearly with reference to cooperation between Airbus Helicopter and Reliance. It had NO connection whatsoever with Government to Government Agreement between France and India for 36 Rafale aircraft. It is in public domain that Airbus Helicopter has partnered with Mahindra for the Military Helicopter Program."

Further, there was a massive temporal discrepancy in Rahul Gandhi's allegations, something that Reliance has highlighted

"For the record, MoU for Rafale aircraft was signed between France and India on 25 January 2016 and not in April 2015. From the above, it is evident that the facts are being deliberately twisted and reality being ignored," Reliance Defence spokesperson added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also put Airbus, whose internal e-mail was cited by the Congress president, in a dock, saying the European aircraft manufacturer is under a needle of suspicion in deals finalised during the previous Congress-led government.

Here is the full statement by Reliance:

“Purported email being referred by the Congress Party is regarding the discussion between Airbus and Reliance Defence regarding Civil & Defence Helicopter Programs under ‘Make in India.'
 
Discussion on proposed MoU was clearly with reference to cooperation between Airbus Helicopter and Reliance.  It had NO connection whatsoever with Government-to-Government agreement between France and India for 36 Rafale aircraft.
 
It is in public domain that Airbus Helicopter has partnered with Mahindra for the Military Helicopter Program. 
 
Also, for the record, MoU for Rafale aircraft was signed between France and India on 25 January 2016 and not in April 2015.
 
From the above, it is evident that the facts are being deliberately twisted and reality being ignored.”

And here is the letter, also tweeted out by Kapil Sibal:

The Reliance statement disproving Rahul Gandhi's allegations comes just days after another letter-based allegation levelled by the Congress president was comprehensively proven to be doctored.