'Rahul disturbed as India and not Pakistan signed Rafale deal'

Giving a further twist to opposition's repeated scathing attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party led central government over the Rafale deal, Rajasthan minister Jaswant Singh Yadav said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi was "disturbed" as India and not Pakistan had acquired the fighter jets.

Speaking at an event in Alwar on Friday, Yadav said, "There was Rafale deal. These are fighter planes which are acquired after great difficulty. Pakistan did not acquire it. Rahul Gandhi is disturbed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and not Pakistan received it."

The minister further said that Gandhi is trying to please Pakistan by insulting everyone. "He (Rahul Gandhi) says Hindus are terrorists. What will such a man do by becoming Prime Minister? He tells people of India that Hindus are terrorists. What does it mean? If you want to please Pakistan why are you insulting us?" he wondered.

Yadav's remarks come at a time when the Congress is mounting attack on the Centre over the India-France Rafale deal and the selection of businessman Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Limited as an offset partner for France's Dassault Aviation, instead of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Gandhi, time and again, has accused government of ousting HAL as Rafale's offset partner and choosing Anil Ambani's company to save its debt-ridden chairperson and his business.

In his recent campaign in poll-bound Rajasthan, the Congress president had also alleged that Prime Minister Modi has "become the Chowkidaar of his friends including Ambani, and not of the nation's.