Congress tired, Rahul Gandhi retired, says Sambit Patra

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for raising questions over Rafale fighter jet deal with France in his election speeches, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Monday said that the Congress was "tired" while Rahul "retired" who had nothing new to offer.

"Rahul ji brought the wrong script yesterday. He took out the script from his bag of 2018 and read it out. The same old things. Rahul Gandhi has nothing new to offer. That's why I say the Congress is tired and Rahul retired. After retirement, he was reading the script from the time when he was active," Patra told reporters here.

The BJP spokesperson said the people gave Rahul an answer on Rafale in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the people gave BJP 303 seats and only 52 seats to the Congress.

"After this too, he is reading the same script. Yesterday, he confessed nothing happened in 70 years. He needs rest. He came from abroad and he should go for a foreign trip again," said the BJP leader.

On Sunday while addressing an election rally in Mumbai, Gandhi reiterated the country knows that there is a theft in the deal of Rafale fighter jet.

"The whole country knows there was a theft in Rafale deal. People from the Defence Ministry wrote clearly that the PM is interfering in the deal. That is why there is guilt. The name Rafale hurts. That is why Rajnath Singh ji went to France to collect Rafale jet," he said.

The Congress leader said that no one could run away from the truth.

"No one can run away from the truth -- neither Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah or the BJP. The truth will get hold of them," he added.

Gandhi's remark had come close on the heels of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh going to Paris last week for the official handing over ceremony of the first Rafale jet.

The Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets was signed between the Government of India and the Government of France on September 23, 2016.