New Delhi: Stepping up its offensive on the Rafale deal, the Congress on Friday posed a set of questions to the government, asking it to disclose the "purchase price" of each fighter aircraft and details of how the agreement was reached.
Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala also accused the government of "doublespeak" and "sacrificing" national interests.
He cited instances during the previous UPA government when details of every defence deal were made public and placed before Parliament.
"As the Modi government stumbles and fumbles, hides and conceals, indulges in doublespeak, sacrifices national interest and refuses to answer on loss to the public exchequer, India will continue to demand answers," he told reporters.
He listed a series of questions for the government, including on the price, the secrecy surrounding the deal, the government's silence on the issue and alleging that prior permission of the Cabinet Committee on Security was not taken.
Meanwhile, the "Mr Jaitlie" dig made a comeback as Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in attack mode over the Rafale aircraft deal, sought to debunk the finance minister's claim that the erstwhile Congress-led UPA dispensation had not revealed the price of defence purchases.
As the government continues to hedge demands to disclose details of the Rafale deal, Rahul summed up the entire business by using the hashtag "daal me Kuch kaala hai (there is something fishy going on)."
"Dear Mr Jaitlie, you said the UPA never released prices of Defence purchases? To nail your lie, here are 3 Parliamentary replies by the UPA with full transparency on pricing. Now do ask our Raksha Mantri to tell India how much each RAFALE jet cost," he tweeted.
Rahul's attack comes a day after finance minister Arun Jaitley strongly rebutted the Congress party's repeated demands for disclosure of details of the multi-billion dollar aircraft deal. He'd accused the party of compromising national security by asking for details.