Rahul provoking armed forces against govt, says Sitharaman

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday rejected Congress President Rahul Gandhi's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ran parallel negotiation for the Rafale deal and accused him of provoking the armed forces against government.

"Today I object to what Rahul has said – he was telling Air Force pilots and officers 'look what Prime Minister is doing to you'. What does this mean, what is going on in his mind? Does he want to provoke them? "Today I object to what Rahul has said – he was telling Air Force pilots and officers 'look what Prime Minister is doing to you'. What does this mean, what is going on in his mind? Does he want to provoke them?“

Does he want to make them stand up against the government? Is it a responsible job of the Opposition? It is very dangerous," she told media outside Parliament.

Sitharaman said that she was "very shocked" to see this attitude. "Rahul Gandhi today called the PM a thief and me a liar. I had also said earlier that as we have not come from a known family, so they try to tarnish our image."

Her remarks came soon after Gandhi, earlier in the day, addressed a press conference and accused Prime Minister of being directly involved in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France by running parallel negotiation in 2015.

Lashing out at an English newspaper for carrying out a "one-sided" story, the Defence Minister said, "One newspaper has printed a file noting, which is written by (former) Defence Secretary. In the same note he is saying Defence Minister should make a statement.

"The then Defence Minister (Parrikar) has seen that noting and also signed it. What was the response of then Defence Minister Parrikar? I said the same thing in Parliament."