New Delhi, October 25: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday fired fresh salvo against the government, accusing it of "getting CBI chief Alok Verma removed" as he was likely to initiate probe into the Rafale fighter jets deal.

While addressing the press in Delhi, the Gandhi scion took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he would he "had been finished", had the CBI began its investigation into the petition submitted by former BJP MPs Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie. Alok Verma Not 1st CBI Chief at Loggerheads With Govt, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Had Sacked Trinath Mishra in 1998.

Gandhi dared PM Modi to appear before the media and answer all queries related to the Rafale deal and the internal feud within the CBI.

"Throughout all this the Prime Minister has not said a word. Why is he afraid? Will he ever muster the courage to sit here (before the media) and take all questions. He would run away," the Congress chief said.

"The removal of Verma is directly linked to the Rafale deal. What else would had compelled the government to take such action at 2am in the night," he added.

On being pointed out by reporters that Dassault Aviation - the manufacturing firm of Rafale jets - has denied being forced to accept Reliance Defence Ltd as the offset partner, Gandhi said the arms company is toeing the Indian government's line.

"Do you realise what happens to Dassault if they say anything other than what the Indian government wants? The deal would be scrapped. Why don't you consider (former French president Francoise) Hollande's statement? He said they were forced to accept Anil Ambani's company as the partner," Gandhi further said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 25, 2018 06:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).