‘No mention of Rafale deal during 5-minute meeting’: Manohar Parrikar accuses Rahul Gandhi of using Goa visit for petty political gains

Parrikar wrote a letter to clarify and accused Rahul Gandhi of using his courtesy visit to him for petty political gains. He said, “in my five-minute meeting with Rahul Gandhi, there was no mention of Rafale deal.”

The Congress had released an unverified audiotape last year in which Goa Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane purportedly told an unidentified person that Parrikar was holding the government to ransom because he was in possession of the Rafale deal files. / IMAGE: TWITTER

Panaji: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that during the courtesy visit paid by him to ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar clearly stated to him that he has nothing to do with the 'new deal' that was "orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to benefit Anil Ambani". Reacting to the statement by Rahul, Manohar Parrikar wrote a letter to clarify. Parrikar said, “in my five-minute meeting with Rahul Gandhi, there was no mention of Rafale deal.” He accused Rahul Gandhi of using his courtesy visit to him for petty political gains.

Goa CM Manohar Parrikar writes to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, writes "I feel let down that you have used this visit for your petty political gains. In the 5 minutes you spent with me, neither did you mention anything about Rafale, now did we discuss anything related to it.' pic.twitter.com/HbUX6yiDk3

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2019

Earlier on Tuesday, Gandhi who is in Goa for a vacation in the coastal state with his mother Sonia went to meet the chief minister in his chamber in the Assembly complex. He later went to the opposition lobby in the Assembly to meet Congress MLAs. The Congress has been targeting Modi on the deal, alleging that the price of each aircraft was sharply hiked from around Rs 526 crore, negotiated under the deal during UPA, to Rs 1,600 crore and that the contract would help Anil Ambani get Rs 30,000 crore benefit through offset contract. The government has denied the charges and has accused the Congress of spreading 'falsehood' on the issue. The Congress had released an unverified audiotape last year in which Goa Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane purportedly told an unidentified person that Parrikar was holding the government to ransom because he was in possession of the Rafale deal files. Both Parrikar and Rane had dismissed the tapes as fabricated. Parrikar was the defence minister when the controversial deal was signed. He moved to Panaji after the BJP minted an alliance to form the government in 2017. Parrikar, 63, has not been keeping good health since last year due to a pancreatic ailment. He couldn't attend his office due to frequent hospitalisations.