Rafale row: Congress calls Jaitley a ‘babble blogger’ after ‘clown prince’ jibe

The war of words between the Congress and the BJP over the Rafale fighter deal grew more personal on Tuesday. Congress leaders labelled Finance Minister Arun Jaitley a “babble blogger” after he described party president Rahul Gandhi as a “Clown Prince” in a Facebook post.

Jaitley’s charge

In his post, Jaitley accused Gandhi of inventing a falsehood by describing, at the Hindustan Times Summit, a meeting between the two and attributing statements to him. Jaitley said he had earlier dismissed such claims as hallucinations, and asked whether Gandhi had a personality issue or was a clown prince outdoing himself.

On the substance of the deal, Jaitley said neither Dassault nor any private company was manufacturing the aircraft or their weapons in India. All 36 jets would reach India fully flyable and usable, he said, and once supplies began, Dassault would have to make purchases in India worth 50 per cent of the contract value.

Congress hits back

Chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala responded on Twitter, dismissing Jaitley’s comments as the rants of a court jester and accusing him of damaging the rupee, exports and the wider economy. “India needs a FM, Not a Babble Blogger,” he wrote.

Spokesperson Manish Tewari said it was unfortunate that the finance minister found time only for blogs while the economy was in poor shape. He described the government’s functioning as odd, with the finance minister speaking on defence, the railway minister on finance and the law minister on other subjects, and predicted voters would remove the government. “These people do not know how to govern,” he alleged.

Background

The Congress has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption and favouritism in the Rafale deal. The government has denied the allegations.

See also: More election news

Originally published on 17 October 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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