Bhubaneswar, Dec 17 (IANS): Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Monday said Rahul Gandhi should apologise and resign as AICC President for his lies on Rafale fighter jets deal.

Rupani -- who was addressing the media here as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s plan to hold press conferences at 70 locations across the country to counter the "Congress conspiracy" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government on Rafale deal -- accused the party of running a misinformation campaign against the Union government.

As the Supreme Court on December 14 gave clean chit to the Modi government on the procurement of Rafale jets from France, the Chief Minister said: "This is victory of truth and defeat of lie. The Supreme Court decision proved that there were no irregularities in the deal. The Congress tried to mislead the people."

He said Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the nation and armed forces for misleading people and resign from his post for dishonouring the Supreme Court verdict.

He alleged that the UPA government ignored the requirements of the defence forces by not finalising the Rafale deal for seven years.

On the Congress demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the deal, he said since the apex court has already given a clean chit, there is no need for a JPC probe.

He, however, said the government is ready to debate the issue in Parliament.