'Shame Modiji, you betrayed India's soul': Rahul attacks PM on Rafale deal

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accusing him of "betraying" the country with his role in the Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi said the Prime Minister and owner of Reliance Defence Anil Dhirubhai Ambani jointly carried out a “surgical strike" worth one hundred and thirty thousand crore on the Indian defence forces.

"Modi Ji you dishonoured the blood of our martyred soldiers. Shame on you," the Congress chief tweeted.

Rahul Gandhi's attack on PM Modi and Anil Ambani comes a day an article by a French website quoted former French President Francois Hollande claiming that the Indian government had asked the French government to nominate Reliance Defence as its India partner for Rafale deal.

"We had no say in this regard," Hollande was quoted by the website as saying. "The Indian government proposed this service group and Dassault negotiated with Ambani."

Since then, the Modi government has come under severe attack from the Congress over the Rafale deal.

Read: No choice given, India suggested Reliance for Rafale deal: Hollande

In response to the claim, the statement on Friday said: "The French government is in no manner involved in the choice of the Indian industrial partners who have been, are being or will be selected by French companies."

Also Read: Not involved in choosing Indian partners in Rafale deal, clarifies France

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after holding talks with then French President Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris.

The opposition party has been accusing the government of choosing Reliance Defence over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd to benefit the private firm though it did not have any experience in the aerospace sector.