The political row over the Rafale jet deal got murkier on Tuesday as the Congress dismissed as “manufactured lies” Dassault CEO Eric Trappier’s claim that there was no wrongdoing (in the Rafale deal).

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the nation needed a “fair investigation” and not “doctored explanations” on the fighter jet deal.

He was responding to Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier’s defence of the contract in an interview to Indian news agency ANI. Trappier has claimed no wrongdoing in the Rs 58,000 crore deal asserting it was clean.

Trappier also claimed that it was his company that chose Reliance as the offset partner.

“‘Dictated Interviews’ and ‘manufactured lies’ cannot suppress the Rafale Scam. First rule of Law – Mutual Beneficiaries and Co-accused’s statements hold no value. Second Rule:-Beneficiaries and accused can’t be Judge in their own case. Truth has a way of coming out,” Surjewala said on Twitter.

Alleging a fixed match between the Modi government and Rafale maker Dassault Aviation, Surjewala said the “blatant corruption” in the fighter jet deal cannot be hidden and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into it.

#Rafale Scam!

Nation doesn’t need ‘doctored explanations’ but ‘fair investigation’!

Fixed match between BJP Govt & Dassault and PR Stunts of PM Modi & Eric Trappier can’t hide the blatant corruption.

Our Statement-: pic.twitter.com/P4xAGiUj7z

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) November 13, 2018

“The nation does not need doctored explanations but fair investigation. A fixed match between the BJP government and Dassault and public relation stunts of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Dassault Aviation CEO) Eric Trappier can’t hide the blatant corruption,” said Surjewala.

Leading the attack on the issue, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has accused PM Modi of corruption and Trappier of lying. Alleging “huge corruption”, Gandhi had claimed that the deal was “done by Modi to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore”.

French aerospace major Dassault Aviation has partnered with Reliance Defence Ltd for delivering 36 Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force(IAF).

(With agency inputs)