NEW DELHI – At a time when the BJP is nursing the crushing defeat in theLok Sabha and Assembly bypoll results, a story over alleged kickbacksreceived by the officials of Narendra Modi government in a militaryaircraft deal would add to its woes.

A report published in The Indian Express on Thursday said that kickbacks tothe tune of Rs 17.55 crore were paid for the procurement of spares of AN-32military aircraft by India.

The media report said Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has sent arequest to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking legal assistance in itsprobe into the alleged kickbacks, besides help in identifying defenceministry officials who participated in the negotiations, signing andimplementation of the deal.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and demanded action from PMModi. ‘Ministry Of Defence, India (MODI) officials, accused of makingmillions of $’s in kickbacks via Dubai by Ukrainian Govt. in AN32 deal.Modi ji, as our self proclaimed chokidar, I urge you to take immediateaction against your corrupt MODI officials (sic), he tweeted earlier in theday.

So far, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has not responded to theallegations directly. However, according to news agency ANI, the Ministryof Defence has termed the news story as ‘misleading’.

‘A misleading news item has appeared alleging kickbacks to Indiangovernment officials through Global Marketing SP Ltd in contract for sparesfor AN-32 Aircraft. It’s informed that MoD or IAF has neither interacted orsigned any agreement with them nor any such agreements witnessed,’ thedefence ministry statement said.

However, the Congress has upped its ante and said that Modi government mustcome out with a detailed explanation.

“There seems to be trouble in paradise, the Ministry of Defence,” Congressspokesperson Manish Tewari saidat a press conference, adding that thecontract for the AN-32 spares was signed in November 2014 during the tenureof the BJP-led NDA government.

Tewari raised five questions over the defence deal and sought the reply ofthe government saying he hoped that it would “not sweep the matter underthe carpet”.

He asked whether it is a fact that the anti-corruption bureau of Ukrainesought legal assistance from the home ministry in February this year.

The Congress leader said the government “misused” the confidentialityclause and hid behind it following allegations of wrongdoing in the Rafaledeal.

Tewari sought to know whether it is a fact that the terms of contract werenot fulfilled and the ministry of defence signed a statement of completionwhich facilitated the transfer of the alleged illegal gratification.

“This is actually the nub of the entire issue and the government mustrespond. What has been the response so far of the Ministry of Home Affairsand Ministry of Defence to the request of the Ukrainian government?” hesaid.

All the details such as whether any internal process has been initiated bythe Ministry of Defence in the wake of the alleged scam should be madepublic, he said.

“If this government believes in transparency and probity and if it abidesby the slogan of ‘na khata hun, na khane deta hun’ ((we don’t take bribesnor let others to do so), then why have you been hiding these facts fromthe people. The moment the request came from the Ukrainian government itshould have been put out in the public space,” he said.

The former Union minister said, “This is an extremely serious issue and wewould like the BJP government’s response from the highest levels.

“Since the honourable defence ministry holds fort on all and sundry 24/7,we do hope she would take the time out to respond to something whichpertains to her ministry,” he said.

India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September lastyear for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs58,000 crore.

The Congress recently raised several questions about the contract andaccused the government of compromising national interest and security whilepromoting “crony capitalism” and causing a loss to the public exchequer.

The government had refused to divulge the details of the deal, citing aconfidentiality pact between India and France.