Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed a news report on the Rafale fighter jet deal which alleges that "parallel discussions by the PMO weakened" the defence ministry's negotiating position during the Rs 59,000-crore agreement between India and France.

After the issue triggered a series of disruptions in Parliament on Friday, she made a suo-motu statement on the floor of the Lok Sabha and said the "incomplete" report was simply "flogging a dead horse".

The Defence Minister questioned the media house for not publishing former defence minister Manohar Parrikar's response as part of its report and slammed the Opposition parties, who raised a clamour for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the matter.

"They are not interested in the Indian Air Force getting powerful or empowered. They are working to the tunes of multinational corporate warfare," she said.

Earlier in the day, as soon as the House convened, members from the Congress, TMC and TDP trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans and raising placards over the fresh allegations in the news item, which refers to an internal note of the Ministry of Defence dated November 24, 2015.

The opposition members also demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried placating the members but in vain.

Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said that no explanations were now needed from the government, and only a JPC would solve the matter.

"You (the government) are anti-national. You indulged in stealing but blame us instead. You are buying only 26 jets as against 126. We demand a joint parliamentary committee. Everything will be revealed then. We don't want any explanation now, we have heard many explanations, even from the PM," Kharge, of the Congress party said, said.

TMC MP Saugata Roy alleged that parallel negotiations were going on when the defence ministry's negotiating committee was handling the matter and that they carried on by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Paris. "It concerns national security. Modi is destroying the defence of the country and undermining negotiations," Roy said.

Soon after the newspaper report came out, Congress president Rahul Gandhi held a press meeting early in the morning and said the Rafale deal was an "open and shut" case. "I want to speak to the youngsters of this nation, to every single member of the armed forces of this nation: This is about your future, you defend us, you protect us, you fight for us, you die for us. And here it is absolutely clear that the PM has stolen Rs 30,000 crore of your money, by-passed the process and given it to his friend Anil Ambani. We have been saying that there should be a JPC, there should be an inquiry. It is now crystal clear that the watchman (chowkidar) is the thief (chor). What can be more clear than this?" he said, reiterating epithets he has used several times earlier.