Firing a fresh salvo at the Modi government on the Rafale aircraft deal, the Congress on Saturday accused it of ignoring the defence procurement procedure and keeping senior ministers in the dark about the negotiations, demanding a public debate and detailed inquiry into the "secretive" happenings.

Senior party leader P. Chidambaram, while addressing a media conference here, alleged that the price for the aircraft had gone up more than three times under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime than what was agreed to by the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. We think the matter is serious enough that there should be a public debate and a detailed inquiry, which is why the Congress President (Rahul Gandhi) and the party have raised the issue, he said at the West Bengal Pradesh Congress headquarters here.