New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS): Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday again hit back at Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying that the government was "scared to face people" and had refused a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

"Dear Jaitley, I guess your boss (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) refused to hold a JPC on the great Rafale robbery? Too much to hide, too scared to face the people, I suppose..." Gandhi said in a tweet.

Gandhi's remarks came soon after Jaitley attacked him over the deal.

"Rahul Gandhi has not read my question: The fully weaponised Rafale aircraft's 2016 price is 20 per cent cheaper than the 2007 offer. This is what the 2015 statement of the PM and the French President refers to as 'on terms better than the 2007 offers'," Jaitley said in a tweet after Congress chief in a press conference slammed Modi government over the deal.

Earlier in the day, stepping up his attack, Gandhi said Jaitley was writing "lengthy" blogs, but the government was silent on the demand for a JPC probe into the issue. "Jaitley is scared to ask the PM about constituting a JPC," he said.

The Congress chief referred to the joint statement issued after Modi announced the Rafale deal which mentioned that the aircraft would be delivered on the same configuration as had been earlier approved by the Indian Air Force.