Earlier on Saturday, he had tweeted: 'The PM and Anil Ambani jointly carried out a One Hundred & Thirty Thousand Crore surgical strike on the Indian defence forces. Modi Ji you dishonoured the blood of our martyred soldiers. Shame on you. You betrayed India's soul.' Rahul has been alone among Opposition leaders to have relentlessly harped on the Rafale controversy since last year's Gujarat elections. He has privately told party colleagues that he is 'one hundred per cent' convinced about corruption in the deal and would prove it.

Several party seniors who had once been sceptical of his ferocious attacks on Modi now concede that Rahul has succeeded in turning the subject into the main electoral issue for the general election.

The Congress too is itching for a no-holds-barred showdown: party seniors have promised clinching evidence in the coming months to show the government lied about the Rafale deal.

'We are absolutely clear that the Prime Minister of India is corrupt. Desh ka chowkidar chor hai (The country's sentinel is himself a thief),' Rahul said.

'He has snatched your money to put it into Ambani's pocket. He bought aircraft worth Rs 500 crore for Rs 1,600 crore (apiece) and snatched the contract from HAL to help Ambani. And then lies, one after another....' Rahul made it clear that he was targeting Modi rather than his defence ministers, past and present.

'(Arun) Jaitley, (Nirmala) Sitharaman, (Manohar) Parrikar didn't sign the Rafale deal. But they are lying to protect one man -- the entire thing is protection for Modi,' he said.

'I want to tell the youth of this country: the man you trusted has betrayed you. He broke your trust. He gave a free gift of Rs 30,000 crore -- your money -- to Ambani, who never made a plane and is in Rs 45,000-crore (worth of) debt.' He added: 'Everybody knows the procedure. There was a one-on-one meeting between Hollande and Modi. In that meeting, the contract was signed. Hollande has said he was told the contract was to be given to Ambani. I want to protect the dignity of his (the Prime Minister's) office. He should come forward and say it (Hollande's claim) is wrong.' Rahul referred to his repeated questions in Parliament that Modi did not answer, and his own meeting with cur- rent French President Emmanuel Macron.

'Parrikar said he was not aware of the change in contract; he was buying fish in Goa when this happened in Paris. Sitharaman said the price can be revealed and then propped up the secrecy clause,' he said.

Rahul claims Macron told him there was no bar on the Indian government revealing the price details.

'After that lies, lies, lies. Let there be a JPC (joint par- liamentary committee) to find out the truth. We will also call Hollande there,' Rahul said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday argued that former French President Francois Hollande had virtually called India's Prime Minister a thief and that it was up to Narendra Modi now to admit or deny the charge.

Rahul expressed surprise at Modi's silence, saying he must clarify the matter as the dignity of the office of India's Prime Minister was at stake and as the charge had come from the former President who had signed the Rafale deal.

Faced with accusations of corruption over the offset contract going to a private company from Anil Ambani's Reliance group rather than the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Modi government has been saying it was the French who chose the partner.

But Hollande has now been quoted as telling a Paris-based website that it was the Indian government that proposed the service provider.

'The ex-French President has made a statement about the Prime Minister of India. He says, with regard to the Rafale contract, `We didn't have any say in this matter. It is the Indian government which has proposed this service group and (Rafale maker) Dassault who negotiated with Ambani. We didn't have the choice. We took the interlocutor who was given to us',' Rahul told a media conference.

'What the ex-President is saying is that the Prime Minister of India is a thief. That is what the statement is saying. Now the Prime Minister has to accept it and say, `Yes, what Hollande is saying is (the) truth'. Or, `(Hollande is) not telling the truth'.' He added: 'For the first time, a (former) French President is saying the Indian Prime Minister is a thief. It is now the question of the dignity of the Prime Minister's Office. I am surprised the Prime Minister is silent. Bilkul sannata (Total silence).' Rahul's direct attack ap- pears to have set the tone for a fierce political battle in the run-up to the general election, as neither Modi nor his party would be likely to take the insult lying down.