London: Rahul Gandhi was at his most confident and convincing when he took "unscripted" questions from nearly 400 students at the London School of Economics.

The Congress president did not shy away from talking about Rafale, describing how Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to France and changed the fighter jet deal and "magically Mr Anil Ambani was given the contract". Anil Ambani's Reliance had issued a "cease and desist" notice to many Congress spokespersons. 

"Mr Anil Ambani is Rs 45,000 crore in debt," Rahul alleged. "Mr Anil Ambani has never made a plane in his life. And the company that got one of the biggest defence contracts in the world was formed - wait for this - one week before the contract was signed," he said.

Listening to him in the packed lecture theatre of the LSE's New Academic Building on Friday evening were not only students from the LSE but also from Oxford, Rahul's alma mater Cambridge ("I love Cambridge"), Warwick, Manchester, Nottingham, Sussex and other universities in London.

The LSE's chair of council, Dame Shirley Pearce, who said the institution had a long tradition of encouraging "difficult debates", thanked the Congress president at the end of the 80-minute session for a "fabulous unscripted discussion".

Rahul appeared to thoroughly enjoy himself when put under pressure by the students.

One question was about whether Muhammad Ali Jinnah was right to demand a separate homeland for Muslims "all those years ago", given the current level of intolerance towards minorities in India.

Rahul's robust response brought loud applause: "I don't think so. In fact, India has proved exactly the opposite. If you look at our history over the last 70 years we have had more Muslim people than in Pakistan and, frankly, we have had a more democratic country, more open country, a country that listens and embraces its people more effectively.

"I can also understand why Pakistan is troubled. The negotiation India has been able to carry out between its people has been much more effective than the one Pakistan has been able to do. That's something we are very proud of. However, over the last four years an attack is taking place on Indian institutions but there is a massive fight back against that attack. The original idea of India is going to win 100 per cent."

Rahul's refrain during his whirlwind two-day tour of Britain has been: "The next election is going to be the BJP on one side and the entire Opposition on the other side."

He sidestepped a question about whether he was the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate: "We agree our first priority is to defeat the BJP... stop the poison that is being spread, stop the division that is taking place.

"Once the election is over all those conversations can be had. But we are not going to have those conversations until we have done the first stage, which is to remove the BJP from power. I see this as an ideological battle."

The event was organised jointly by the National Indian Students' Alumni Union UK and the LSE's South Asia Centre, whose director, Dr Mukulika Banerjee, conducted the discussion with Rahul.

Many were probably just curious about whether Rahul, making his first public appearances in the UK, was prime ministerial material.

"Not as dumb as I thought he would be," a student was heard to remark.

Rahul complimented the students: "I meet and I speak to many students.... I think you all are brilliant."

Rahul objected to the manner in which the contract to build the Rafale fighter aircraft under licence in India had been awarded to Anil Ambani.

Although the industrialist has rejected Rahul's criticisms, the Congress leader told the students: "The real question in my mind is the question of Rafale. HAL has been building aircraft for 70 years.

"HAL has built the MIG 21, 23, 27, 29, the Sukhoi, the Jaguar, the Hawk...HAL has no debt.

"Our government signed a contract with Dassault and gave the contract to HAL. The price we were paying was approximately Rs 520 crore a plane. Then something happened.

"Prime Minister Modi went to France, changed the contract from 126 planes to 36 planes, changed the pricing structure from Rs 520 crore to Rs 1,600 crore and magically Mr Anil Ambani was given the contract."

The Congress president said the "absolutely amazing thing" about the Rafale deal was: "The media in India just won't pick it up. They will not pick it up"

Rahul appeared to touch his youthful audience by talking about violence in a very personal way: "I have seen people whom I have loved very much being killed.

"I have also seen the person who killed my father being killed... when I saw (footage of) Mr (Velupillai) Prabhakaran (of the Tamil Tigers) dying on the beaches in Jaffna, when I saw him being humiliated, I felt sorry for him because I saw my father in his place. And I saw his children in my place."