Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman came out swinging at the opposition in the Lok Sabha on Friday on the controversy over the Rafale deal. She accused the opposition of politicking over the deal without regard to the national security implications. She also blamed the Congress of failing to finalise the deal to purchase of fighter aircraft.

"It is very disheartening. This country needs to know that defence purchases are national security related and very important, whether they are in power or we are," Nirmala said. "We have had wars in northern and western frontiers. Timely purchase equipment should be the priority. We have to recognise the sense of urgency," she added.

She also accused the Congress of failing to clinch the deal for the purchase of the Dassault Rafale fighter jets, and alleged that corruption in defence acquisitions by the Congress was the reason for this. "There is a difference between defence dealings and dealing in defence. We don't do defence dealings. We deal in defence with national security as a priority… Congress did not intend buying the jets. For every 'AA' there is a 'Q' and 'RV'," she said, in a reference to the Bofors scam.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had used 'AA' to refer to Anil Ambani after he was asked by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan not to take the industrialist's name. Gandhi has repeatedly alleged that Ambani's Reliance Defence had been 'gifted' a Rs 30,000 crore offsets contracts bypassing Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Nirmala also attacked the Congress chief over his references to HAL. She accused the Congress of doing little to strengthening HAL in the 10 years that it was in power. "HAL will only give helicopters, it won't give anything else," she said, hinting that the Congress had left HAL in the lurch because it could not offer any extra-contractual benefits.

She also addressed the opposition's accusations that the Modi government had purchased only 36 aircraft instead of the 126 that were proposed to be acquired by the UPA. Niramala pointed out that the proposal during the UPA government had only entailed 18 Rafale fighters in a flyaway condition, with 108 proposed to be made by HAL.

"We have doubled the number of aircraft purchased in a flyaway condition. You had only proposed to buy 18 in a flyaway condition," Nirmala said. She further attacked the decision to buy only 18 aircraft, which would be enough for only one squadron.

"Emergency purchases are always two squadrons. That is why we have purchased 36 aircraft in flyaway condition. In 1982, when Pakistan was buying F-16s, the Indian government then decided to buy two squadrons of MIG-23 MF from the erstwhile Soviet Union. In 1985 again, two squadrons of Mirage 2000 were bought from France, and in 1987, two squadrons of MIG-29." So what was the rationale for purchasing only one squadron, she asked.