Rafale deal: Nirmala Sitharaman to launch nationwide campaign 'to fight perception battle'

Sitharaman said she will hold several press conferences to fight the battle.

She has been quoted by  NDTV as saying, "We need to fight the perception battle. Many of us will be speaking across the country. Facts have to come out."

The riling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are having a face-off over the Rafale deal (buying of 36 fighter jets by India) ever since former French President Francois Hollande said India had urged France to nominate Indian industrialist Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Industries as its partner in the Rafale deal.

Attacking the government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said Hollande tried to mean Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "thief".

Questioning Modi's silence over the matter, the Congress chief had said: "It is upto the Prime Minister of India to clear his name on the issue."

Speaking at a press conference, Rahul said: "Ex-President of France said 'We didn't have any say in this matter'. What he is saying is, PM of India is a thief."

However, Hollande's claims were denied by the French government but the former stood firm by his statement.

Targeting Rahul afresh on Monday, Sitharaman said the Congress president's allegations would be exposed.

In a harsh tone on Saturday, Sitharaman had called the entire family of Rahul a "thief".

Sitharaman's reaction has been quoted by NDTV, "(Rahul Gandhi and Congress) betray their sense of desperation in being out-of-power. In our govt there is no corruption. No wonder today the buzz is #RahulKaPuraKhandanChor (Rahul Gandhi's entire family are thieves)."