France, Nov. 13 -- New allegations of kickbacks by Dassault Aviation to secure a contract with the Indian Air Force for 36 Rafale jets have kicked off a political slugfest in India where the deal with the French firm has been under the spotlight since it was clinched in 2016.

India's ruling BJP party and the opposition Congress attacked each other after private website Mediapart said the Dassault Group subsidiary allegedly paid €7.5million in instalments to a middleman to corner the Indian deal.

"It is a highly political case, but not the case of a single political party,"Mediapart journalist Yann Philippin told Indian television stations on the deal that dates back to 2007when then Congress party government decided to buy 126 fig...