PM Narendr Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: Congress on Tuesday gave notices for bringing privilege motions against PM Narendra Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha, citing their "misleading" statements on the Rafale deal .

Congress parliamentary leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, Jyotiraditya Scindia, KV Thomas and Rajeev Satav met Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in the evening and gave separate notices. The party will move the motions in Lok Sabha on Wednesday if approved by the Speaker.

The controversy is rooted in the debate on the no-confidence motion on Friday. While Congress chief Rahul Gandhi accused the government of not making public the purchase price of Rafale jets and raised suspicion about the deal, Sitharaman argued that the government could not divulge the price as it was bound by a "confidentiality agreement" of 2008 between India and France.

In his reply to the motion, Modi endorsed Sitharaman's argument and chided Rahul for raising the issue.

The opposition party took exception to the reply, arguing that the government had misled Parliament since the 2008 pact only barred details about weaponry and technology, and not price.

Buttressing its argument, the Congress notices against the Prime Minister and defence minister said the government - on November 18, 2016, and March 19, 2018 - disclosed the price in the two Houses of Parliament.

Importantly, the notices said French company Dassault has in its annual report of 2016 disclosed the sale price of 36 Rafale jets.

