In another major development in Rahul Gandhi Citizenship row, recent revelations point towards the controversy to be more than that of Rahul’s citizenship. According to documents accessed by India Today, Ulrik Mcknight, the co-promoter of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s UK firm Backops Limited, had acquired defence offsets during the UPA regime.
After the firm Backops Limited, UK was wound up in 2009, Mcknight went on to acquire offset contracts from French defence manufacturing company Naval Group (formerly known as DCNS) against Scorpene submarines in 2011.
According to a report by Business Today, as a part of its offset obligations, French defence manufacturing company had signed a contract with Flash Forge Limited regarding the supply of critical parts for the submarines being manufactured by Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai. In the Rs. 20,000 crore deal, French firm had to work with MDL to build 6 Scorpene Submarines. Flash Forge, the offset partner, in the same financial year had acquired a UK based company named Optical Armour limited. In the following year (November 2012) two Flash Forge directors were given directorship of the Optical Armour limited, on the same day when two individuals assumed the directorship, Ulrik McKnight was also given the directorship of the company, according to the filings made by Optical Armour in 2014. Mcknight was allotted 4.9% shares by the firm.
In 2013, Flash Forge acquired another UK based company named Composit Resin Developments limited. Ulrik Mcknight in the same year also joined Composit Resin Developments limited with two directors from Flash forge limited as directors.
The fact that Congress President’s former business partner benefitted through the European subsidiaries of an Indian offset partner, which got the contract during UPA era, is sure to raise certain difficult questions for Rahul Gandhi.
In 2002; Rahul Gandhi had plunged into the BPO business, the BPO was called Backops Services Private Limited, and a New Delhi based company, which had essentially been a call centre-like operation providing engineering detail and structural planning services to large overseas civil engineering firms. Rahul Gandhi owned a share of 83 percent in the company. A few months following this, Rahul Gandhi had expanded overseas, by incorporating a company in the UK in the name and style of Backops Limited, in 2003, Ulrik Mcknight was the co-promoter of the firm in UK. Rahul was named as one of the 2 directors in the British firm and held 65 percent of the company share. What this company entailed is somewhat obscure. The companies operated for quite some years until 2009, wherein Backops Limited was dissolved and Backops Services Private Limited’s shares were transferred to sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Currently, Backops Services Private Limited has been struck off, though not completely dissolved.
The working of the UK based Backops Limited is unclear and India based Backops Services Private Limited has a list of questionable projects. The company was floated in 2002 and shortly after, Rahul Gandhi was elected as MP from Amethi in 2004. The company, known as “Backops engineering”, in a short while since its incorporation has boasted some of the most impressive projects all over India and overseas, with Mumbai at its forefront. It adds to its list, Mumbai’s international airport terminal building, the commercial complex at Phoenix Mills, Belapur railway station, Headquarters for Wockhardt and buildings at the Osho Commune, Pune, amongst many others. It is pertinent to note herein that the company was a newly formed start-up. It is improbable that a start-up would bag parts of such key projects whose value ran into crores of rupees; one might even say it is impossible. Therefore, the sanctioning of such prestigious projects to Rahul Gandhi’s firm implies an unethical political interference.