Arun Jaitley said the controversy will not lead to cancellation of the Rafale deal. Jaitley reiterated the Congress demand for a JPC probe into the Rafale deal. Jaitley said the Rafale fighter jet deal has been politicised

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley hit back at Rahul Gandhi and Francois Hollande with a 'whodunnit' blog post on Facebook.

The Opposition going all guns blazing against the government over the Rafale deal reeks of a coordinated effort, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday, as he hit back at Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former French president Francois Hollande with a 'whodunnit' blog post on Facebook.

Brushing off Congress attacks that cited Hollande's claim that the Indian government favoured industrialist Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence for the multi-million dollar contract, Jaitley said, "truth cannot have two versions."

Pointing to Hollande's subsequent statements on the deal, Jaitley asserted that neither the Indian nor the French government played any role in the selection of Reliance Defence as the local partner by Rafale manufacturer, Dassault Aviation.

Now with the huge uproar following Hollande's assertion that India proposed Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence for the Rafale contract, and Gandhi using Hollande's claim to add to his onslaught, the finance minister pointed to the 'perfect rhythm' on the issue.

"On August 30, why did he (Rahul Gandhi) tweet? And then what happens is in perfect rhythm with what he predicted. And what was it they predicted?" Jaitley said.

"The former French president's first statement rhymes with Rahul Gandhi's prediction," he said, referring to Hollande's stunner two days ago and another statement Hollande gave to news agency AFP in which he was quoted as saying, "only Dassault can comment on this."

Jaitley asserted that the controversy will not lead to cancellation of the Rafale deal. His counter came amid a political firestorm after Gandhi took on his defence on the Rafale controversy, alleging that the BJP leader was 'spinning lies' with "fake self-righteousness and indignation to defend the indefensible."

He reiterated the Congress demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Echoing the Congress chief, Uttar Pradesh former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav also demanded a JPC. "We demand a JPC on Rafale deal. Without a JPC, the truth will not come out, the issue has now become global," said Yadav.

The FM expressed his disappointment over how the complex deal to buy advanced military hardware has been politicised.

He took a swipe at Gandhi, hinting that the Rafale deal discussion could be had in a more serious manner.

"Public discourse is not a laughter challenge. Sometimes you hug people, wink at them, and then give wrong accusations against them 10 times. Attacks in a democracy happen, but the language should be of civility," Jaitley said.

"UPA government was unquestionably most corrupt government in history. I pity Rahul Gandhi's understanding, he is in revenge mode. We were called corrupt with evidence, so we will call you corrupt without any evidence!" Jaitley further said.