Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s credibility has taken a beating by relying on lies “like referring to the Prime Minister as a thief”. She also criticised Congress leader P Chidambaram’s purported statement that India needs to change its behaviour towards Pakistan.

The defence minister was referring to Gandhi’s statement in a hearing involving Bharatiya Janata Party MP Meenakshi Lekhi’s petition in the Supreme Court. Lekhi had moved the court last week, claiming that Gandhi had attributed his remark “chowkidar chor hai”, in context of the verdict on the Rafale case, to the top court. Gandhi and his party often use the slogan to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has repeatedly referred to himself a “chowkidar” or watchman.

“I feel sorry that a president of a national party like the Congress depends on falsehoods,” Sitharaman said, while adding that the BJP will wait for the court’s response. “To escape the wrath of the Supreme Court, Gandhi has taken a politically convenient argument by claiming that he regrets his statement.”

On Chidamabaram, Sitharaman said the Congress has worsened its status by demanding a behavioural change in India’s stance towards Pakistan, particularly during the Lok Sabha polls. “What is the change of behaviour that they [Congress] want?” Sitharaman asked. “It is astonishing. Do they want us to stop taking action against terrorism? Do they want us to compromise on our territory? Do they want the government to state that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory? Do they want to draw moral parity, a parallel, between a perpetrator of terrorism and a victim of violence?”

Chidambaram had reportedly said on Sunday: “Whatever we do, we have to make Pakistan change its behaviour. That means we must also change our behaviour towards Pakistan.”

The defence minister has also described the Congress election manifesto as “terrorist-friendly”.