the goan I network
PANAJI
Less than 24-hours after he rekindled the fires stoked by the controversial Vishwajit Rane audio tape on the Rafale deal controversy with a series of tweets, Congress President Rahul Gandhi sprung a surprise on Tuesday with a 20-minute visit to the in-session Goa legislative Assembly complex during which he also met with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in his official chamber for a brief five minutes.
Clad in a white kurta-pyjama and sporting keds, Gandhi was received by Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo at the Assembly building’s rear entrance to which his convoy had directly driven to. Opposition Leader Chandrakant Babu Kavlekar, other Congress MLAs and GPCC president Girish Chodankar were also present to receive him.
Lobo then led the Congress president to the first floor chamber of the Chief Minister where he was closeted with the ailing leader for about five minutes.
The only third person inside the chamber during the meeting besides Parrikar’s personal aides was Kavlekar who later told the media that Gandhi talked to the Chief Minister only inquiring about his health.
Minutes after the meeting Gandhi tweeted: “This morning I visited Goa CM, Manohar Parrikar, to wish him a speedy recovery. It was a personal visit.
“Meanwhile, after the meeting with Parrikar, Gandhi also visited the Opposition lobby where he interacted with the Congress MLAs for a few minutes.
Nonetheless, it did not insulate the out of the blue Rahul-Parrikar meet, even if it was for a mere five minutes, from taking a political hue.
Gandhi had taken to twitter on Monday while holidaying in Goa, to say Parrikar who was Defence Minister “possessed explosive documents on the Rafale deal which gave him power over Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.”
He also said the audio tape in which Vishwajit was heard telling a local journalist that Parrikar possesses Rafale files was “genuine”, which was why the Parrikar-led administration was neither investigating it nor taking any action against the cabinet minister.
The meeting also aroused curiosity in the national media who in an interaction with AICC general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad were told that Gandhi’s meeting with Parrikar had nothing to do with politics or the Rafale deal row.
On his way out, the Congress president who walked at a brisk pace politely declined an interaction with the waiting media entourage saying he had to rush to the airport. Gandhi was scheduled to address Congress booth workers in Kerala later in the afternoon.
