Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after talks with the then French President Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris.
The government said it would be best to await the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which has been given access to all the files relating to the contract.
Chidambaram's remarks come in the wake of fresh revelations on the Rafale deal in a media report which claimed that PM Modi's decision to buy 36 aircrafts instead of the 126 asked for by the Air Force pushed the price of each jet up by 41.42 per cent.
In its response to the RTI application filed by Durve, the CAG also refused to share its correspondence related to the audit of Rafale deal with any government department or political party.
"He's driven by fear. It's this fear that is making him corrupt & destroy key institutions," the Congress chief alleged.
Addressing a press conference here after meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi over the issue, the employees accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "attempting to build a false narrative" that HAL is incapable of building the Rafale fighter jet.
It is pertinent to mention here that just months before the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the Congress party is trying to corner the Centre on Rafale issue.
Addressing a public rally in Solapur after launching a slew of infra projects, Modi asked the Congress to clarify what was driving its ongoing allegations on the Rafale fighter jet deal.
The 'chowkidar' can pick a wrongdoer even in darkness, he said.
The Congress President also said the country will surely get to know about how Modi helped his friend get Rs 30,000 crore of people's money.
The Congress president has been repeatedly accusing the Narendra Modi government of weakening public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and destroying India’s strategic capability to benefit industrialist Anil Ambani.
He said available documents in the public domain raised serious suspicious circumstances of the intention of Rahul Gandhi and Congress.
“When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies, to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the PM's Rafale lie, the RM lied to Parliament. Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL. Or resign,” tweeted Gandhi.
Kurukshetra: BJP, Congress lock horns over Rafale deal
She accused the Congress of compromising with national security in the interest of the party's "treasury" while deciding on buying 126 fighter jets.
"In addition to corruption, the PM should be investigated for weakening national security by giving the Rafale contract to his friend and international debt master, Anil Ambani," Gandhi tweeted.
By repeating his allegations, Rahul is trying hard so that at least one corruption charge against the Modi government could stick.
Rahul Gandhi's attack came a day after he said Modi faced an open book exam on the deal in Parliament and asked if he will show up at the exam or send a proxy.
Arun Jaitley attacks Rahul Gandhi over Rafale deal issue
Jaitley shooted out a series of tweets in apparent attack on the Congress President, asking “How much does he know? When will be know?”
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