The battle between Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become intense, as Rahul Gandhi alleges BJP that the price of Rafale jets is much higher than what was negotiated by the UPA government.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley responded to Mr. Gandhi by asking him 15 questions, but in return Gandhi has now challengedJaitley to call a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe. The Congress president has challenged Jaitley to set up an all-party lawmakers' panel to discuss the deal – which he termed as RAFALE ROBBERY.

In a tweet, Mr. Gandhi asked: “Mr Jaitley, thanks for bringing the nation’s attention back to the GREAT #RAFALE ROBBERY! How about a Joint Parliamentary Committee to sort it out? Problem is, your Supreme Leader is protecting his friend, so this may be inconvenient. Do check & revert in 24 hrs. We’re waiting!”

Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah has joined the chain of commentary by terming Rahul Gandhi’s demand for JPC – as "Jhoothi Party Congress" and said that Rahul Gandhi lies to fool the nation.

Mr. Shah responded: “Why wait 24 hours when you already have your JPC-Jhoothi Party Congress.Your lies to fool the nation are self-evident when Rafale price you quote vary in Delhi, Karnataka, Raipur, Hyderabad, Jaipur & Parliament.But the nation's IQ is higher than yours!”

Even though Mr. Jaitley has defended BJP’s negotiations for a better deal, there are still many questions remain unanswered. It seems no one is ready to get on a debate or discussion. Demand of JPC may or may not sound ideal, but the government must answer few key questions, even though it’s a defense deal.

While Jaitley termed the Congress party’s attack as "complete falsehood'', he never tried to answer those vital questions on the deal, including:

• Why the government scrapped the initial agreement for 126 Rafale jet out of which 108 aircrafts were supposed to be manufactured in India?
• Why the price for each of the 36 jets are so much higher in the new deal?
• Why Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was kicked out and how did Dassault choose Reliance Defence as the partner company that has no attractive track record?

Yashwant Sinha for ‘forensic audit’ to assess irregularities in Rafale deal

Former Finance Ministerunder NDA government, Yashwant Sinha sees the need for a forensic audit to find out 'criminal intent or negligence' in the deal.

As per the former minister, a JPC probe will have little progress since this is going to be headed by a member of the ruling party, whereas an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General can reveal more information.

Mr. Sinha also remarked on the exclusion of HAL as partner of Dassault Aviation in this deal and questioned how a newly formed company couldbecome a part of the contract.

He further added that if HAL was part of it, there would have been technology transfer and production of 108 Rafale fighter jets in India. He said that despite all those tall claims by the Central government, Prime Minister Modi has simply reduced the ‘Make in India’ scheme to amere slogan.

--Deepak Mohanty