Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday trained his guns on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the multi-crore Rafale fighter jet deal.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha today, the 48-year-old Gandhi scion also triggered pandemonium in the lower house when he took out his mobile phone and wanted to play a purported recording of a conversation of a Goa Minister on the Rafale deal.

As the House took up the Rafale deal discussion, Gandhi said that the nation is asking a direct question to the Prime Minister.

“Prime Minister in an interview said that no one is accusing him personally on Rafale. Entire nation is asking a direct question to the PM,” he said referring to the 1 January interview of PM Modi with ANI.

Demanding to know why the original demand for 126 fighter jets was changed to 36, Gandhi said, “First pillar is process, second is pricing and the third and most interesting is patronage. Senior officers of the IAF chose Rafale after long negotiations, IAF wanted 126 aircraft, why was the demand changed to 36?”

Continuing his attack on the PM, Gandhi said that that Modi “doesn’t have guts to come to Parliament to confront”.

“There are number of holes in Rafale story. Last time PM listened to my speech and gave a long speech later, where he didn’t talk for even 5 minutes on Rafale. He doesn’t have guts to come to Parliament to confront; Defence Minister hides behind AIADMK MPs and PM hides in his room,” Gandhi said.

The Congress leader then tried to play an audio tape which the Congress claims contains the voice of Goa Health Minister Vishwajit P Rane telling an unidentified person that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has Rafale files in his bedroom.

The ruling party leaders protested and so did the opposition. As the shouting intensified, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked Gandhi to authenticate the purported conversation and sternly told him not to play any recording.

“They are so afraid, I will not play the tape and if it pleases you but…,” he said adding he would read from the taped conversation.

But Finance Minister Arun Jaitley interjected.

“You know it is false,” Jaitley told Gandhi. “Because he knows it is false… he lies repeatedly.”

“On the last occasion, he (Rahul Gandhi) manufactured a conversation between him and the former French President (Francois Hollande). Today, he repeats the same. Today, he tried to produce a tape but he is too scared to authenticate it,” he said.

Gandhi reiterated the Congress party’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter.

“We demand a JPC in this matter. BJP se main kehna chahta hun ki darne ki baat nahi hai, JPC order kijiye, doodh ka doodh, pani ka pani ho jaayega. (I want to tell the BJP that there is nothing to be afraid of. Order the JPC; everything will become clear),” he said.

“The Supreme Court verdict stated that probing Rafale scam does not come under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, but they never said that JPC shouldn’t be formed,” Gandhi said referring to the 14 December verdict in which the apex court rejected a probe into the deal.

Hitting back, Jaitley brought into the picture AugustaWestland, National Herald and Bofors – all of which have brought the Congress in the dock.

“If the fingers point at you in AugustaWestland, National Herald and Bofors, then it is a bit too much. Today, they have the audacity to raise an allegation against us,” he said.

Jaitley accused the Congress of trying to stall the deal.

“There is a speciality about UPA in decision making that is if the aircraft being selected is not the one whose commerce you have dealt with then delay the transaction, make it impossible,” he said.

Taking a jibe at Gandhi and referring to Ottavio Quattrocchi of the Bofors scandal, the senior BJP leader said, “When he (Rahul Gandhi) was young, he was playing in the lap of a certain ‘Q’ (Quattrocchi). Congress doesn’t understand national security.”