New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday dismissed the questions raised by the Congress on the Rafale deal. The BJP said that the "collective singing of falsehood" is actually to defend Rahul Gandhi, who, it said, was "prima facie guilty of breach of privilege for misleading" the Lok Sabha.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also cited replies made in Parliament by then UPA government on defence purchases and other issues in which its defence minister, first Pranab Mukherjee and then AK Antony, had declined to share price details and other information on the ground of national security. The UPA government's stand was right, Prasad said as he accused Gandhi of trying to wreak havoc on India's security for his political considerations. "The stand of the Congress on the Rafale deal is clearly not in the interest of the country," he said.

The Congress has been demanding that the government share details of the Rafale fighter aircraft price as it accused the Modi government of buying them at a much higher price than it was originally negotiated. Prasad asserted that the base price of each aircraft negotiated by the government with the French government is at 91.75 million Euro nine per cent less than the 100.85 million euro the UPA government had decided upon.

The government has been forthcoming in declaring the aircraft's price but details of operationally sensitive matter including India specific enhancement and logistics support package would end up disclosing the vital information about the Indian Air Force strength, the minister said.