New Delhi, Aug 30 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday again hit back at Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying that the government was "scared to face people" and had refused a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

"Dear Jaitley, I guess your boss (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) refused to hold a JPC on the great Rafale robbery? Too much to hide, too scared to face the people, I suppose..." Gandhi said in a tweet.

Gandhi's remarks came soon after Jaitley attacked him over the deal.

"Rahul Gandhi has not read my question: The fully weaponised Rafale aircraft's 2016 price is 20 per cent cheaper than the 2007 offer. This is what the 2015 statement of the PM and the French President refers to as 'on terms better than the 2007 offers'," Jaitley said in a tweet after Congress chief in a press conference slammed Modi government over the deal.

Earlier in the day, stepping up his attack, Gandhi said Jaitley was writing "lengthy" blogs, but the government was silent on the demand for a JPC probe into the issue. "Jaitley is scared to ask the PM about constituting a JPC," he said.

The Congress chief referred to the joint statement issued after Modi announced the Rafale deal which mentioned that the aircraft would be delivered on the same configuration as had been earlier approved by the Indian Air Force.

 

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Chennai (PTI): Vijay-led TVK secured an impressive 108 seats trouncing the incumbent DMK led by M K Stalin which finished with only 59 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections held on April 23, as per the final tally of the ECI on Tuesday.

The opposition AIADMK won 47 seats while its allies the PMK obtained 4 and the BJP and AMMK clinched one seat each respectively in the election, according to the data available on the Election commission of India's website.

The DMK's allies - the Congress managed to win 5 seats, the IUML, CPI, CPI (M), and VCK: 2 each and DMDK secured one seat, among a total of 234 Assembly constituencies in the state.

The votes were taken up for counting on May 4 and the final tally was announced on Tuesday.

Actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam on Monday created a record of sorts in the electoral history of Tamil Nadu and emerged as the single largest party by delivering a shock defeat to DMK and its president Stalin in his Kolathur constituency, while the AIADMK was pushed to a distant third spot.

Vijay won from both Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies.

The TVK has clocked nearly 35 per cent (34.92) vote share in its debut polls.

This will be the first time in Tamil Nadu that a party will assume power a little over two years after its founding in February 2024.