Coimbatore : Congress president Rahul Gandhi was confused about the Rafale deal and this was reflecting in his comments, Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman said on Friday.

On Rahul Gandhi’s statement that the Rafale issue was a deal between Modi and Ambani, Nirmala told reporters here, “You don’t get confused. Rahul Gandhi is a confused man. He is talking about different rates. Besides, he is telling in different places that we, (the Government) had helped many persons, sometimes Adani and at times Ambani,” she said.

“I will definitely give a reply. But the occasion now is the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the benefit of MSMES,” Nirmala said.

Asked about the allegation by AIADMK MP and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thmbidurai that the Centre had not released Rs 18,000 crore as requested by Tamil Nadu government, the Minister said she did not know what he specifically said and so did not want to comment.

However, she said she had the letter from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister thanking her for helping the State to get the amount released. of amount, Nirmala said she had taken up the issue with the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister.

She was here to participate in the announcement of 12 schemes as support and outreach for MSMEs by Modi through videoconferencing. So far, 182 applications were uploaded seeking loans and they received in-principle approval for Rs 47.5 crore for Coimbatore.

The Minister evaded many questions saying she wanted to respond only with regard to MSMEs.