Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was spreading canards in the AugustaWestland case after being "caught" in the Rafale fighter jet deal.

"With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, Modi has dragged the names of Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi in the AgustaWestland case," the party General Secretary said in statement here.

"After Modi was caught for his role in the Rafale deal, he has dragged the names of Sonia and Rahul. (He) is trying to settle political scores," Chandy said.

The Congress leader said Modi was levelling baseless allegations and was using the now jailed middleman Christian Michel to target the Gandhis.

"The day it dawned that the agreement was not a clean one, then Defence Minister A.K. Antony ordered a CBI probe and blacklisted AgustaWestland. But soon after assuming power, Modi gave a new lease of life to the company," said Chandy.

"Modi fails to realise that the people of the country know the Gandhis who have laid down their lives for the country and will not fall into the canards being spread by Modi."