The co-promoter of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s UK company Backops Limited, UK received defense offsets under the UPA regime. Ulrik Mcknight turned into 35% co-proprietor of Backups UK, in which Rahul Gandhi owned a majority sixty-five % equity between 2003 and 2009 before the firm became wound up. Mcknight later went directly to accumulate offset contracts from French defense provider Naval Group towards Scorpene submarines in 2011.
Subsidiaries associated with Rahul Gandhi’s former business companion acquired defense agreement as an offset accomplice of the French company Naval Group all through UPA regime, documents accessed by way of India Today imply. While BJP and Congress party had been at loggerheads on the difficulty of Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship issue, files released by using each the events have mounted that Rahul Gandhi did open an employer named Backops Limited in the UK in partnership with a person named Ulrik Mcknight.
According to filings made via the Backops UK, Rahul Gandhi and Mcknight were the founding directors of the employer where Gandhi owned majority sixty five% shares and Mcknight owned 35% stocks as on June 2005. According to election affidavit filed with the aid of Congress president in 2004, Rahul Gandhi declared movable belongings belonging to Backops Europe, consisting of financial institution stability in its 3 bills. This organization becomes dissolved in February 2009.
Rahul Gandhi has also been related to an agency with similar name Backops Services Private Limited wherein his sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra served as a co-director. Rahul Gandhi in his election affidavit of 2004 declared that he owned eighty-three % shares on this Indian firm and had made a capital funding of Rs 2.50 lakh inside the equal. Incorporated in 2002, this employer became too dissolved later and its remaining returns have been filed in June 2010. However, Rahul Gandhi’s former commercial enterprise accomplice and his future groups went to gain from offset contracts given through French defense enterprise.
The Defence Deal
In 2011, as a part of its offset obligations, French defense manufacturing corporation Naval Group (previously referred to as DCNS) had signed a contract with Visakhapatnam-based Flash Forge Private Limited for the supply of essential components for the Scorpene submarines being built at Mumbai’s Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL). The French firm changed into beneath agreement to paintings with MDL to build six Scorpene submarines below a settlement well worth about Rs 20,000 crore. In the identical monetary yr, the Indian firm Flash Forge acquired a UK based totally organisation named Optical Armour Limited. Next year in November 2012, two of Flash Forge administrators had been given directorship of Optical Armour Limited. On November 8, 2012, the day those people assumed the directorship of the UK Company Ulrik Mcknight turned into additionally given directorship of the agency. That’s now not all, in line with the filings made through Optical Armour in 2014 McKnight turned into allotted four.9% shares by the firm.
Flash forge received some other UK primarily based organization named Composit Resin Developments Limited in 2013. In the identical 12 months, Mcknight additionally joined the employer as one of the administrators in conjunction with directors from Flash Forge Limited. According to web sites of Naval Group, their India partners encompass Flash Forge and CFF Fluid Control Private Limited (a joint venture between Flash Forge and every other French group Coward). India Today could not attain Mcknight for a comment, this text could be up to date if he makes an assertion.
While Indian and European corporations related to Rahul Gandhi were dissolved before the French organization Naval Group engaged in an agreement with Flash Forge, the reality that Congress president’s former enterprise partner benefited via the European subsidiaries of an Indian offset accomplice which become contracted at some stage in UPA era is bound to open a Pandora’s container.
