Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to interact with nearly 100 working and retired employees of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Saturday.
Informing about his meeting at the state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer, Rahul tweeted on Saturday that the interaction will be held from 3 pm onwards outside the HAL headquarters in Bengaluru.
"HAL is India's strategic asset. The future of India's aerospace industry has been destroyed by snatching #Rafale from HAL & gifting it to Anil Ambani. Come defend the dignity of India's defenders. I am in Bengaluru to stand with HAL's employees. Join me outside HAL HQ, at 3 pm," the tweet read.
The meeting comes at a time when the Congress is mounting attack on the government over the India-France Rafale deal and the selection of Reliance Defence Limited, instead of HAL, as an offset partner for France's Dassault Aviation.
Gandhi, time and again, has accused the Narendra Modi-led NDA government of ousting HAL as Rafale's offset partner and choosing Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Limited to save the company's debt-ridden chairperson and his business.
In his recent campaign in poll-bound Rajasthan, the Congress president also alleged that Prime Minister Modi has "become the chowkidaar of his friends including Ambani, and not the nation's."
-- ANI