The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, 24 June launched a pointed attack on Congress and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, alleging they amplified Pakistan's narrative that Indian Rafale fighter jets were shot down during Operation Sindoor. The BJP cited a June 2026 Indian Air Force (IAF) tender for interim bridge support covering all 36 Rafale aircraft in service as evidence that the fleet remains intact — directly contradicting Pakistan's claims.

The Tender at the Centre of the Dispute

The IAF's support package tender, issued in June 2026, covers the entirety of India's 36-aircraft Rafale fleet. The BJP argues that a procurement exercise spanning all 36 jets would be logistically inconsistent with any scenario in which multiple aircraft had been destroyed in combat. The party described the tender as documentary proof that Pakistan's assertions of Rafale losses were fabricated.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla framed the tender as a definitive rebuttal. 'The recent tender that has been issued for the support package has been done for all 36 Rafales. So it is clear that the narrative that Pakistan and Congress were peddling about Rafales being shot down is completely bogus,' he said.

Operation Sindoor: Background

Operation Sindoor was launched by India as a retaliatory military response against targets in Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam in May 2025. The operation triggered a brief but intense period of military escalation, during which both sides issued competing claims about aircraft losses and battlefield outcomes before a ceasefire was reached. Pakistan publicly claimed that multiple Indian Rafales had been downed — assertions that India rejected.

Notably, the competing claims made during and after Operation Sindoor have since become a flashpoint in domestic political debate, with the BJP accusing the opposition of selectively endorsing Pakistan's version of events.

BJP's Allegations Against Rahul Gandhi and Congress

Poonawalla alleged that Rahul Gandhi had repeatedly raised questions about Rafale losses that mirrored Pakistan's propaganda, and accused him of undermining India's armed forces. 'Pakistan has been given a befitting response in Operation Sindoor, but they tried to create a fake narrative by saying jets were down. And the problem is that Pakistan was finding support in the Congress Party,' he said.

The BJP spokesperson further alleged a pattern of conduct, referencing past controversies. 'He said that there was corruption in the Rafale deal, the Supreme Court chastised him; he said that Operation Sindoor was a failure, saying surgical strike was ‘Khoon ki Dalali’,' Poonawalla added. He also noted that Gandhi was abroad at the time of his remarks, though he did not specify the location.

Congress and Opposition's Position

The BJP's broadside comes amid an ongoing political dispute over the government's handling of Operation Sindoor and the transparency of information shared with Parliament and the public. Congress leaders had previously raised questions about the conduct and outcomes of the operation — questions the party frames as legitimate parliamentary scrutiny, and which the BJP characterises as anti-national messaging aligned with adversarial interests. Congress has not yet issued a formal response to Wednesday's specific allegations about the Rafale tender.

What Comes Next

The political row over Operation Sindoor and Rafale losses is unlikely to subside ahead of the upcoming parliamentary session. The BJP has signalled it will continue to press the issue, while the opposition is expected to mount its own counter-narrative. The IAF has not independently commented on the political dimension of the tender, and the government's official position — that all 36 Rafales remain operational — has not been contradicted by any domestic institutional source.