New Delhi, Aug 30 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe Rafale deal and accused him of lying over the issue.

"Your lies to fool the nation are self-evident when Rafale price you quote vary in Delhi, Karnataka, Raipur, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Parliament. But the nation's IQ is higher than yours!" Shah said in a tweet.

His remarks came hours after Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government was trying to cover up a "scandal with scandal" and asked why it was "scared" of a JPC probe.

Responding to Gandhi's charge and demand, the BJP chief said: "Why wait 24 hours when you already have your JPC - Jhoothi Party Congress?"

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a blog post termed the Congress charges on the Rafale deal as "complete falsehood."

Hitting back, Gandhi said the government should then accept a JPC probe.

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Raichur (Karnataka) (PTI): Fire broke out near the stage of the mass marriage event that was attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar here, police said on Sunday.

Nobody was affected, and the fire was immediately put out, they said.

The fire was noticed shortly after Shivakumar and other dignitaries left the stage, and Forest Minister Eshwaran Khandre was speaking to the media at the venue in Sindhanur, officials said.

According to officials, wires, speakers, and cloth materials near the stage caught fire, allegedly due to a short circuit.

Police personnel present at the spot quickly swung into action and extinguished the fire.

The programme was halted for some time and resumed later, they said.

Several ministers, legislators and political leaders from the region, and actor Sudeep had attended the event.