the goan I network
PANAJI
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday trained his guns on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, saying in a tweet that failure to act on the controversial tape purportedly containing the phone conversation of his minister with a local journalist showed he possessed secrets of the Rafale deal which gave him power over Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Thirty days since the Goa audio tapes on Rafale were released. No FIR or enquiry ordered. No action against the Minister (Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane) either,” Gandhi, on a three-day holiday in Goa since Republic Day, said on Twitter.
Gandhi in a follow up tweet said it’s obvious that the tapes are authentic and Parrikar possesses explosive Rafale secrets which give him power over the Prime Minister.
Parrikar was Defence Minister when Modi on an official visit to Paris announced the deal to acquire the jets for the Indian Air Force, which has kicked up a storm over the replacement of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with an Anil Ambani-promoted company to fulfill the offset obligations of the deal.
Exactly a month ago, an audio clip featuring a phone conversation between Rane and a local journalist in which the former claimed Parrikar at a Cabinet meeting had talked of possessing files related to the Rafale deal in his bedroom. The release of the tape had led to a major ruckus in Parliament.
Rane, under fire over the contents of the tape, however made the claim that the tape was ‘doctored’ and written to Parrikar as well as the BJP National President to subject it to an investigation by any agency and book the culprits.
Parrikar too tweeted to deny the contents of the tape as well as the claim that documents related to the Rafale deal were in his possession.
However, no formal investigation into the veracity of the
tape has been launched till date by the Parrikar government, although his Cabinet colleague has sought one in writing. Gandhi, who was holidaying with his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi since Saturday, left Goa on Monday in a private aircraft.
The visit of the Gandhis to Goa was a private affair and they were put up at a five-star resort in South Goa. Local Congress leaders said there were no official engagements during their stay in Goa.
