'Prove or Quit': Rahul Dares Sitharaman to Prove Rs 1 Lakh Cr Orders Given to HAL, Minister Tells Him to 'Start From ABCs'

New Delhi: Slamming Nirmala Sitharaman for "lying" in Parliament over Rafale issue, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday demanded Defence Minister's resignation.

"When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies, to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the PM's Rafale lie, the RM (Raksha Mantri) lied to Parliament. Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL. Or resign," he tweeted.

Gandhi questioned her over a Times of India report that said that India's leading defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is keenly awaiting formalisation of orders adding up to Rs 1 lakh crore mentioned by Sitharaman during the discussion on the Rafale fighter deal in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

The report quoted a senior HAL management official as saying that no actual order had either been placed or a single rupee had been released to the company.

Hours after Gandhi's demand, the Defence Minister asked the Congress president to read the complete newspaper report, where it has been mentioned that "Sitharaman did not claim the orders were signed, saying they were in the works".

A tweet from the minister's office later asked him to "start from ABCs".

Gandhi had said on Friday that Sitharaman evaded his questions on the controversial deal. However, she dismissed all allegations of corruption and accused Congress president of misleading the nation.