Political leaders have started reacting to The Hindu's Friday report on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

According to the report by N. Ram, at the height of the negotiations over the controversial €7.87 billion Rafale deal between India and France, the Defence Ministry raised strong objections to “parallel negotiations” conducted by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) with the French side.

PM must take responsibility for loss to exchequer: Yechury

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury alleges that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consistently undermined the Air Force and the Defence Ministry to benefit his “cronies” in the Rafale deal.

“Modi has consistently undermined the Air Force & Defence Ministry in the Rafale deal for corruption, to benefit his cronies. His actions have hurt the public exchequer & damaged national security. These facts have been hidden from Supreme Court where a review petition is pending,” he tweets.

“The PM must take responsibility for the loss to the exchequer, violation of procedure to get far fewer fighter jets than what Air Force wanted. All just to help cronies,” he says.

Yechury alleges that the “wires in this scam go straight to the top man”. “For whose benefit was Modi undermining defence ministry & Air Force? Why was IAF’s Deputy Chief forced to write to Modi’s PMO to stop ‘parallel negotiations’ with France?” he asks.

“We have always said Modi is directly involved in corruption & cronyism in this ? 59,000 crore Rafale scam,” he adds.

Shocking, says Antony

Former Defence Minister A.K. Antony says it is “shocking” that the PMO conducted parallel negotiations on the Rafale deal and allegesd it had “special interests to protect“.

“This is shocking to me. In the defence negotiations, only the Defence Ministry is involved,” the senior Congress leader tells reporters outside Parliament.

“Never in the history of Government of India it has happened like that. What is the special interest of the PMO?... Why did the PMO take such a special interest in this case? They have special interests to protect. They want to favour somebody,” he says.

“Some serious thing is wrong there. Otherwise, the PMO has no role in price negotiations. It is the duty entirely of the Defence Ministry and armed forces. Only they do these kind of negotiations,” he states.

The government should immediately accede to the Opposition’s demand for forming a joint parliamentary committee and it should meet and go through all the records, he says and adds “the PMO has something to hide“.

Seize all files related to Rafale deal: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweets,"In the light of today’s expose on Rafale, “independent” CBI shud raid PMO, seize all the files related to Rafale and make arrests just like they raided my office and residence and Kolkata police commissioner."

AAP MP Sanjay Singh to register police complaint against Modi

AAP MP Sanjay Singh says he will lodge a complaint with the Sansad Marg Police Station against the Prime Minister as the file notes have shown that PMO bypassed the MoD (Ministry of Defence) in the Rafale deal. He will also write to the CBI seeking action against the Prime Minister as well as an update on his letter alleging corruption in the deal sent to the CBI on March 12, 2018.

Cat is out of the bag: Stalin

DMK president M.K. Stalin says Mr. Modi has come under the Supreme Court's contempt, as in its sealed envelope, the Centre never mentioned about the PMO's negotiations.

"Never in independent India, a Prime Minister is caught in such serious allegations. The cat is out of the bag," he says.

Flogging a dead horse: Defence Minister

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismisses the media report on the Rafale deal as “flogging a dead horse”, and accuses the Opposition of playing into the hands of multinational companies and vested interests.

“They are flogging a dead horse. Periodical enquiries by the PMO cannot be construed as interference,” the Minister says during Zero Hour.

Referring to the report, which claimed that the then Defence Secretary objected to the PMO allegedly conducting price negotiations with the French company, Ms. Sitharaman says then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had replied to the letter asking the official to remain “calm” as everything was “alright“.

Those aligned with BJP, please explain: Omar Abdullah

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah says he would like to see how those aligned with the BJP will explain reports that the Defence Ministry had protested over the mechanism being adopted by the PMO for the Rafale deal.

TaggingThe Hindu's article, he tweets: "I’d like to see how this one is explained by the talking heads aligned to the BJP. @PMOIndia ‘weakened the negotiating position of the Ministry of Defence & the Indian Negotiating Team’ as per this note in a MOD file that went up the the Defence Minister."

Rahul alleges PM has given money to his friend

At a press meet, Congress president Rahul Gandhi says, ''Today's The Hindu report makes it crystal clear that the Prime Minister is conducting parallel negotiaitions. I appeal to the youth of this nation. The PM has stolen Rs. 30,000 crore of your money, bypassed the process and has given money to his friend. We have been calling for a JPC in this regard.

''It's an open and shut case, President Hollande had said that PM has suggested the name of Anil Ambani. My friends in the Air Force... this money could have been used for your safety, or could have been used for your families. When an officer [Defence Ministry officials who wrote the note] puts such a thing on a piece of paper, he is doing it for a reason, he is saying that the PMO has bypassed us. PM is a representative of Anil Ambani.

''The entire judgement of the Supreme Court is questionable as the SC didn't have these documents. They lied to the court. Do you think the SC would have given the judgement if the papers were available to them?

''Do I look rattled to you? Hollande clearly said Indian PM is a thief as he suggested Anil Ambani to us. Now the Defence Ministry is saying that PM is a thief. You can do an inquiry on anyone you want. No problem. But do an inquiry on this as well. You allow the law on Robert Vadra, Chidambaram, no problem. But also answer on Rafale. It is absolutely clear that the PM has stolen from the country and the pilots.

"I hate to use the strong words, but can't help telling the truth. It is now a duty to tell the country that the PM is a thief."

(With inputs from news agencies)