'Rahul ka Pura Khandan Chor': Nirmala Sitharaman on Rafale row

New Delhi, Sep 22: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday hit out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for using "abusive language" about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attacked the Congress president saying "Rahul ka pura khandan chor". Slamming the Congress President for the "abusive" language against PM Modi, Sitharaman wrote that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress betray their sense of desperation being out of power.

The tweet was attached to another tweet by India's Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri which stated that: "From the Jeep Scam of 1948 when Nehru was the PM, to Indira Gandhi's infamous election scandal of 1971 among others. From Rajiv Gandhi's Bofors deal to a barrage of scams, frauds & scams of UPA. The family has kept itself busy with self-development."

Meanwhile, many BJP leaders have attacked Rahul Gandhi for his abusive remarks against PM Modi.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi said the former French President had called PM Modi a "thief" in the Rafale deal and sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the agreement to purchase 36 fighter jets from France.

"Now what the ex-President of France is saying is that the Prime Minister of India is a thief... that is what the statement is saying. It is very important for the PM now to either accept Hollande's statement and say that he is telling the truth or that Hollande is not telling the truth and here is the truth," Gandhi said.

Rahul Gandhi's allegations came after former French president Francois Hollande's said that it was the Indian government which proposed the name of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence as its India partner in the Rafale jet deal.