“Why is the Prime Minister silent?… It was he who had overturned the (earlier) deal… It was an unauthorised action on the part of the Prime Minister without the mandate from the Cabinet Committee on Security. So he has to answer.”

senior party leader Anand Sharma said he had violated the oath of confidentiality regarding the deal. “Only he could have told Anil Ambani that HAL (the PSU first expected to be part of the Rafale deal) will be out and he would strike a deal to buy 36 jets and ‘You (Ambani) go and talk to Dassault Aviation’,” Sharma said.